Magistrates Court

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By Zya Williams

The refurbishment of the St. John’s Magistrates’ Court building on High Street is still incomplete after several years, with work still in progress.

Since April 2019, the Court has been temporarily relocated to the Gray’s Green Community Centre while repairs were being conducted at its original location.

And despite hopes raised in the February 1 Cabinet notes which stated that the facility would be ready within three weeks, the target has yet to be realized, leaving the court still operating from its temporary premises.

In a recent update, Minister of Legal Affairs Sir Steadroy Benjamin confirmed to Observer Media that repairs are nearing completion.

He stated, “We will, within the near future, be moving out of those quarters down there and move back to High Street. As far as I am told, the repairs are almost completed. We should go back there in the next four weeks.”

Despite initial expectations that the community centre would only serve as a temporary measure, the Court’s official location on High Street and Temple Street has been undergoing renovations for nearly five years.

Court staff had been voicing concerns about their working conditions for weeks before the relocation.

In December 2018, the workers, through their union, wrote to the Ministry of Legal Affairs about the deplorable state of the building and gave authorities three months to relocate them.

The temporary measure of relocating the workers to the “Knuckle Block” facility, originally intended to last six weeks, has extended for years since the center was previously used as a sports facility.