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The Ministry of National Security and the Police Department has re-opened the police sub-station in Guinea Grass Village. It's one of the biggest villages in the Orange Walk District, but for 3 months, its residents had to go all the way to Orange Walk Town because the substation was in a state of disrepair.

The Police Department is trying to improve its service delivery to the rural parts of the country. And so, the top Brass and the Department held a ceremony at the newly refurbished station today to make the point that other remote communities will be seeing upgrades like this one. 

Here's what the Commissioner of Police had to say about how this sub-station will allow his officers to provide better security to the residents of Guinea Grass:

Chester Williams - Commissioner of Police
"The Guinea Grass Police Station is very central to the operations of the police in the Orange Walk South area. You would know that the Guinea Grass Village is one of the largest villages within this area, and as such, to be with police [station] for a number of months was truly inconvenient to the villagers, as they had to go to Orange Walk Town to lodge their complaints. But now, with the refurbished police station, every service that the police offer is now within the Guinea Grass Village. There's no need for them to go to Orange Walk [Town] anymore. We have the CIM system and everything. So, the station is self-sustained. In terms of the village, we're moving away from one-man stations. We believe that having one police officer at any police station is not conducive to the officer's health and safety. So, we're now having a minimum of Â 2 police officers at every substation across the country. That way, the officers will be able to support each, as they conduct their daily tasks. You'll know that the Guinea Grass area, we've seen a few incidents in the past, and with the station now reopened, the officers will be able to do proactive policing, with a view to see how they can prevent things from occurring within the village."

Hon. Elodio Aragon - Minister of State, National Security
"I know we have a lot of villages within this district of ours, Orange Walk. I know every village would want to see a police sub-station, but the reality is that we have to do that as the Ministry can have the necessary funding and resources to put there. It's not only about building the building. It is about finding the personnel who man that building, and finding the resources of mobility, and all things. So, we are looking at where our priorities lie, and where we need to put in the resources."

The Commissioner and the National Security Minister of State told the press that a substation is planned for Carmelita Village, and that groundbreaking should take place in a few