Public Safety Minister David Burch yesterday insisted a cockroach and termite-infested St. George's Police station would be revamped and opened 24 hours a day within months.

The building will be gutted and cleaned out so it can provide a full-time base for officers for the first time since it shut on January 2 — whoever wins next month's General Election — the Minister said.

It comes after the Opposition United Bermuda Party candidate Kenneth Bascome pledged last Wednesday to restore a round-the-clock Police presence in the Old Town if he beats Dame Jennifer Smith to the St. George's North seat on December 18.

Works and Engineering Building Surveyor Dennis Reid said it was too early to predict exactly when the station would reopen because he had only been contacted about the project last Thursday.

However, Mr. Reid said he was hopeful work could be completed within three months.

Lt. Col. Burch, who conducted a brief press conference before touring the building with the press, said: "We have been working on the renovation of this building for some time now — it takes a long time."

The Minister was unable to say how many officers would staff the building — other than to confirm it would be 24 hours a day — but pointed out St. George's was already served by Police at the Airport and at Southside. He said the first floor of the building was being earmarked for community use.

Asked what he would say to critics who questioned the timing of the announcement, Lt. Col. Burch said: "That's the juncture we are at. Works and Engineering have funding, we have finished consultations with the Police, I don't have the distraction of having to canvass."

He said pressing ahead with the project now would not be "grief" to the new Government, even if it should be the UBP.

But last night, Opposition Leader Michael Dunkley described the timing of the move as "an insult to the intelligence of people of St. George's", pointing out Government had closed the building in early January and the UBP had been calling for it to be reopened for months.

Yesterday, the building — constructed in 1912 — was still littered with numerous dead cockroaches while the first floor was out of bounds for safety reasons.

Chief Insp. Martin Weekes said officers had worked there in such conditions for some time before it closed, and described it as "better than Hamilton Police Station".

Police currently have a presence in St. George's above the Post Office but mainly operate out of Southside.