The Montserrat Royal Police Service (RMPS), has recently received 4 new vehicles, the Office of the Premier announced Monday.
In November of 2016, Honourable Premier and Minister of Finance, attended a Commissioner’s Parade at the Police Headquarters in Brades, where it was brought to his attention that the Police were in dire need of vehicles, essential for the purpose of carrying out their daily functions. At that time, some of the Officers reported that vehicles were stalling on the road, regular surveillance of the Island was being hindered and that sometimes they could not respond in a timely manner to reports, due to the unreliable nature of the Police vehicles. Premier Romeo immediately instructed the Financial Secretary, Colin Owen to organize for the Police to use one of the vehicles from the Ministry of Finance and for a new set of vehicles to be procured.
The fleet of vehicles, which were acquired through the Small Capital Asset Fund (SCAF), arrived on Montserrat late April and have been recently commissioned. Premier Romeo met with Commissioner of Police, Steve Foster today Monday August 28th, where an official handover of the keys and inspection of the vehicles, took place.
Commissioner Foster stated that while he was thankful for the two Toyota Hilux pickup trucks and two Toyota Rav 4 SUVs, there is still a lot of outstanding equipment required, in order for the department to operate efficiently.
Premier Romeo says that the requests for additional equipment, are being reviewed and although all areas cannot be covered immediately, due to budgetary constraints, the Government of Montserrat is committed to facilitating and equipping the law enforcement team with the necessary tools required to perform their duties. Premier Romeo also stated that he is expecting that the Police will take very good care of these new vehicles, which have been entrusted in their care.
