Zuleika Jess presses Government over rural court repairs and security

Opposition MP Zuleika Jess used her 2026 Sectoral Debate contribution to challenge the Justice Minister’s account of court modernisation, arguing that access to justice remains badly weakened in rural Jamaica, particularly in Santa Cruz, Westmoreland and other hurricane-affected areas of western Jamaica.

Jess said the minister should leave his Kingston office and see the conditions facing court staff and residents who depend on rural courthouses. She pointed to courts operating without running water and questioned how people travelling from Lucea and from Savanna-la-Mar to Lucea could be expected to bear the cost and inconvenience while basic justice services remain under strain.

She also invoked the legacy of the late Roger Clarke before turning to remarks attributed to Chief Justice Bryan Sykes. Jess said the Chief Justice had described the ministry as an "unreliable partner" after the judiciary reportedly had to draw on its own budget for emergency repairs to courts in western Jamaica so judges would have suitable places to work.

In her view, the situation showed that courts were being forced away from their core work of reducing case backlogs and into emergency facility management. She argued that Hurricane Melissa caused damage, but said the slow restoration of court operations reflected poor planning rather than the storm itself.

Jess questioned why, seven months later, court workers were still facing problems as basic as access to water and why police had not been assigned to secure court files at affected courthouses. She also asked whether unused disaster recovery funds could be directed toward restoring access to justice in the damaged parishes.

The MP called for an emergency infrastructure and security audit of rural courthouses across Jamaica, immediate police deployment at the Santa Cruz courthouse, and clear funding timelines for the St. Elizabeth and Westmoreland parish courts. She said justice under the current administration had become "a disaster in need of recovery" before moving on to legal aid concerns.