OPPOSITION Senator Kim Swan has rubbished Government claims that it always intended to reopen the St. George's police station.

And the United Bermuda Party candidate for St. George's West pointed out that Government made the same pledge in 2003 ¿ just before a General Election ¿ but had failed to get the station up and running in the four years since.

Sen. Swan was speaking out against comments made by Public Safety Minister David Burch on Wednesday. Sen. Burch told The Royal Gazette that the station will reopen next year once renovation work is carried out.

Sen. Burch denied allegations that the move was part of an electioneering drive in the east end, adding: "As far back as 2003, this Government has repeatedly stated that St. George's would have a fully-functional police station."

But yesterday Sen. Swan questioned why there had been no progress on the project in the past four years.

"The point is, they have done nothing about the situation since 2002 and it has only become an urgent issue for them now ahead of a general election and because my colleague Kenny Bascome raised the issue," Sen. Swan said.

"I am pleased that the gutting of the building is finally under way but this is just more last-minute scrambling and promises, just like they did in 2003, which of course was another election year. But what have they done since? They've had four years and absolutely nothing has been done. I'm very happy that a squeaky wheel is finally getting some grease, but perhaps we should have a General Election every year ¿ that seems to be the only way of getting things done by this Government.

"The fact is, the most significant issue in St. George's at the moment is the type of police presence that we want. We want a police presence in the town, particularly from dark to dawn, with a police service that actually interacts with the community. It would appear that, according to the mindset of the Government, they believe community policing is commuter policing ¿ dispatching patrols whenever there's an incident rather than working in the community doing preventative police work.

"But I also believe that people are focusing on the wrong thing. What is happening now? The Minister says the new police station will be open in a few months but in a few months from now we're also going to have cruise ship passengers here again. I still say that the space above the post office could be used in the interim period, or perhaps another suitable space could be found."

Government announced the station's closure at the start or 2002, saying that a permanent force was to be housed in neighbouring St. David's.

"We won't provide funding for a 24-hour police station in St. George's and Southside ¿ it does not make sense," Sen. Burch was quoted as saying at the time. In April 2002, after a petition condemning the closure received thousands of signatures, then-Premier Jennifer Smith appeared to backtrack.

"The building is undergoing renovations. When those renovations are complete, one will see a police presence back in that building," she said.

Dame Jennifer later denied that she had performed a U-turn prompted by widespread public outrage saying only that Government had chosen to remain silent over "misinformation" that the station was to close permanently.

But the announcement took some by surprise. The town's Mayor Henry Hayward said at the time: "At the present time I haven't been told anything other than the station will be relocated to Southside. I need an explanation."

And then-Opposition Leader Grant Gibbons pointed out that no cash had been allocated in that year's Budget to fund the revamp.