A total of 12 courts will be housed at the refurbished Georgetown Magistrates’ Court Complex along Avenue of the Republic and Brickdam, between Croal Street and Brickdam, which is expected to be handed over to the judiciary by the end of September after more than two years of works.
This is according to Junior Finance Minister Juan Edghill, who on
Wednesday inspected the construction and rehabilitation works.
“We have now put in an additional six courts, it means that all of the courts in the Georgetown Magisterial district will be merged into one centralised location with access to the support staff,” Edghill was quoted as saying by the Government Informa-tion Agency (GINA).
According to GINA, the renovated complex will house 12 courts, each having offices for the Magistrates, along with washroom facilities.
It will also house the Office of the Clerk of the Georgetown Magisterial District and support staff, and will have a facility to accommodate prisoners.
It also said that the new building will be fully air-conditioned, thereby eliminating the noise-nuisance that was experienced during the operation of the old court.
The facility will also have two parking facilities, with the northern park will be for the staff and magistrates.
The operation of the new court complex will also mean that the ministry will no longer have to endure the cost for renting the facility in Middle Street, Minister Edghill was also reported as saying.
Since the start of the repair works, courts 1, 2, 3, 5, 8 and 9 have been housed at the former Globe Trust offices on Middle Street and there have been frequent complaints about the cramped conditions and discomfort experienced in the small courtrooms.
GINA said that construction and rehabilitation works on the complex are scheduled to be completed within a few days, and the team’s visit was to ensure that the contractors meet this deadline.
The Registrar (ag) Rashid Mohamed, Project Coor-dinator – High Court Evadney Mangar and Procurement Manager Modernisation of the Justice Administration Project, Colin Cryus were the other members of the inspection team.
Edghill disclosed that government has been making it clear to contractors who are working on government programmes that they want to see them deliver projects as stipulated on the contractual agreement.
He said that the Ministry of Finance was paying close attention to all capital works projects in the public sector investment programme a-cross the length and breadth of Guyana to ensure that the project execution units monitor the delivery of the works in a timely manner.
“This is something that was very long-awaited. This work had started for some time now.
The Chancellor had been very much concerned—also the Attorney General—with the pace of work, given the fact that we were renting the building over in Middle Street.
So, this is very timely and of course it just enhances the dispensation of justice,” Cyrus, meanwhile, said.
GINA said that the construction and rehabilitation works on the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court complex was an initiative under the Modernisation of the Justice Administration Project for the improvement of the physical infrastructural capacity of the Justice Sector.
Under the project, new courts have also been constructed in Springlands, Whim, Canje, New Amsterdam, Sisters Village, Fort Wellington, Wales, Wismar, and Lethem, among other areas.
Also under the project, renovations have been done to most court buildings in the country, including the Court of Appeal and the High Courts of Berbice and Demerara, GINA added.
