Guilty of neglect

THE scandalous neglect of the building housing the San Fernando Magistrates’ Court has finally turned into a crisis. The courthouse has fallen into such a sad state of disrepair that the Local Health Authority of the City Corporation now threatens to close the building if urgently required renovations are not effected in the next 28 days. The prospect of the closure of magistrates’ courts in San Fernando for this reason must reflect dismally on the commitment of the Government to properly maintain the judicial system in our country. If this threat is eventually enforced, it would not only be a sad day for justice in TT, but it would also seriously affect operation of the second largest magisterial jurisdiction in the country, with matters having to be transferred to other overloaded courts, the nearest being Princes Town in the east, Siparia in the south and Couva in the north.

Such governmental disrespect for justice is also grievous because it diminishes public confidence and breeds contempt. If the courts can be permitted to operate in such a disreputable, vermin-ridden, urine-and-faeces-reeking environment as the Local Health Authority describes, then who should really care about the quality of justice administered there? The situation is scandalous because it is not an overnight development. Last January, for example, this newspaper highlighted the complaints of Chief Justice Sat Sharma who noted that the problem of delapidated magistrates’ courts had existed even before TT gained its independence in 1962. The crisis in San Fernando was looming even then as the two buildings which had been  retained for temporary use by the courts had remained unoccupied even though close to $1 million had already been paid for their rental.

Unbelievably, nothing has yet been done to convert these commercial buildings into proper courthouses. The reason given then for this absurdity was that an architect needed to redesign the buildings was not available. Was he ever available? Since then the situation has grown more ridiculous every month when the Judiciary has to pay $75,000 in rent for the two unused structures. While the Government pursues its grand vision of transforming TT into a developed country by 2020, it seems somewhat laughable that the magistrates’ court in the nation’s second largest city is about to find itself homeless because of official neglect. Sources have informed Newsday that the possibility of the Judiciary complying with the order of the Local Health Authority and fixing the multitude of problems identified by the LHA within 28 days is quite out of the question.

Also, the infrastructural changes needed to convert the two rental buildings for use by the court are estimated to cost at least $12 million. By comparison, the Government has allocated just $5 million in this fiscal year for repairs to all existing court buildings. When contacted by this newspaper, CJ Sharma replied in obvious frustration: “I have been saying it, repeating in my speeches, that things are moving too slow. What else am I expected to do? The Judiciary does not have the funds or the wherewithal to deal with this. It is unfortunate that it has come to this.” In our view, the Government, having permitted this crisis to develop, must now move urgently to resolve it. The Works Ministry must undertake the necessary repairs as a matter of urgency.