NaRRA Eyed For Four New Parish Courthouses, Chuck Says

The Government plans to use the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority, NaRRA, to help develop four new courthouses for St Elizabeth, St Ann, Westmoreland and Trelawny.

Justice Minister Delroy Chuck said preliminary work on the projects began in the previous fiscal year. He gave the update recently while making his Sectoral Debate presentation in the House of Representatives.

Chuck told Parliament that the Administration intends for the four proposed court facilities to be treated as priority projects under NaRRA. He said the aim is to deliver modern, landmark buildings that can serve the justice system for the next century and provide the range of services expected from courts today.

The minister also said the Government expects the new St Thomas Parish Court to begin operating early in the next fiscal year, as part of efforts to strengthen Jamaica's justice system.

Chuck further advised that the Administration wants to mobilise public-private partnerships to provide new court infrastructure in Manchester, St Catherine and for the Supreme Court.

He said court facilities in Clarendon and Linstead, St Catherine, have already been improved. Sites are also being assessed in St James, while plans are in place to lift the Hanover and Portland courts to first-class standards.

According to Chuck, the condition of several court outstations remains troubling and is being dealt with, especially in cases where court operations are housed alongside police stations.

He said renovation and rehabilitation work is now in progress at the Hanover Family Court, the Supreme Court, the Kingston and St Andrew Traffic Court on Melbourne Road, and the St Elizabeth Parish Court in Santa Cruz.