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PHILIPSBURG--Slain bike patrol Police Officer Gamali “Benji†Kwasi Benjamin will be laid to rest at the Methodist Cemetery in Philipsburg after a ceremony with honours tomorrow, Thursday.
At 10:30am his body will depart Royal Funeral Home to the Philipsburg police station.
At 10:45am a brief ceremony will be held at the Philipsburg police station while the uniformed departments will stand in front of the police station.
At 10:55pm the procession of uniformed departments will leave the police station and head to Front Street where it will stop for a brief moment in front of Oro Diamante, where the Benjamin shot on Wednesday, August 5.
At 11:30am, the procession will arrive at the Philipsburg Methodist Church.
At 12:00pm the official part of the ceremony will start at the church.
The viewing of the body will take place at the Methodist Church on Front Street from 12:00 to 1:45pm. Minister Reverend Liana Richardson-Woods will oversee the ceremony.
Police also announced the closure of several roads on Wednesday, August 12, and Thursday, August 13, in connection with Benjamin’s funeral.
On Wednesday a wake will be held at Royal Funeral Home in Sucker Garden from 6:30 to 9:30pm. Sucker Garden Road will be closed to traffic from the junction at Guana Bay Road to the junction at Arch Road.
Only a section of the closed area will be used for parking purposes for the mourners to pay their last respects. The area will have lights for safety purposes during the hours of 6:30 to 9:00pm.
Sucker Garden Road from the Freedom Fighters Roundabout up to the Guana Bay Road junction will remain open for residents of the area. Only residents coming from Arch Road will be allowed onto Sucker Garden Road. The road will be closed off completely from Jo-Jo Construction to the entrance of Guana Bay Road. There will be no through traffic from the Freedom Fighters Roundabout to Dutch Quarter.
Motorists will have to use Soualiga Boulevard, Arch Road, Sucker Garden Road to go to Belvedere, Middle Region and surrounding areas.
The parking lot opposite the Post Office will be closed completely as of Wednesday night around 9.00pm. This area will be used for parking for the funeral.
On Thursday, the day of the funeral, Front Street and Back Street will be closed off completely up to the side roads. All traffic will have to use Cannegieter Street. All buses and taxis will use the parking for taxis at the Government Administration Building. The section of E. Camille Richardson Street will be closed on Thursday from 10:00am to 9:00pm at the junction of Zoutsteeg.
Also on Thursday, the ring road from the Salt Pickers Roundabout to L.B. Scott Sports Auditorium will be open for one-way traffic from 7:00am to 7:00pm.
For the final part of the ceremony for the burial at the Methodist Cemetery, the section of Long Wall Road and Kerkhofstraat will be closed. The area at the bridge at Little Bay Road will be closed for through traffic. All motorised traffic will be re-routed via Fort Willem Road.
