The new Sparendaam Magistrate’s Courthouse was yesterday declared open by acting Chancellor of the Judiciary Carl Singh, who said sittings are expected to resume from Monday at the facility.
At the opening ceremony at the courthouse, which has been under construction for almost a year,
Justice Singh also told those gathered that the new building houses two courtrooms, which will be presided over by two magistrates.
Singh said Magistrate Zamilla Ally-Seepaul will continue to be the presiding magistrate and a new magistrate will join her shortly.
The previous court building was demolished in February of last year and hearings were temporarily housed at the Better Hope Community Centre.
The new courtrooms are well furnished and outfitted with air-conditioning units.
Justice Singh said construction supervision was done by E & A Consulting Engineers, whom he thanked for doing a good job on the building.
He was unable to give the cost of the building when asked, however, sources told this newspaper that the works were estimated at about $77M.
Magistrate Ally-Seepaul, who also spoke to the media, said that she was very happy for the new and improved building. She also said that she welcomed the addition of a second magistrate, who will be presiding over matters with her within the jurisdiction, which extends from Mon Repos to Conversation Tree on the East Coast of Demerara, since both the population and the case load had grown. The magistrate said the volume of cases coming before the court has been demanding and there is not much she could have gotten done alone. Ally-Seepaul said that she has tried to give priority to cases where the defendants are remanded and as a result this has caused her to push back other matters, including ones which may have been before the courts first, thereby creating a backlog. She was optimistic that another magistrate would help cut the workload in half.
Among those in attendance at the opening were acting Chief Justice Yonette Cummings, Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan, Supreme Court Registrar Suanna Lovell, Justice Sandra Kurtzious and Magistrate Alisha George.
