AG blames UNC for deterioration of court building in Sando

ATTORNEY General Faris Al-Rawi is blaming the poor state of the San Fernando magistrate’s court on the United National Congress (UNC) which, he said, did no preventative or maintenance work on the building.

The 60-year-old building is to be torn down, two years after court operations were relocated to the adjacent high court to repair the punctured asbestos roof. An unsightly yellow tarpaulin over the roof characterised its location.

Delays and funding hampered its completion, and the 2018 earthquake further compromised the structure which has since been condemned.

Al-Rawi said the UNC halted maintenance of court buildings as attempts were made to acquire properties to build judicial complexes instead.

“But that of course never happened. So, in the context of doing nothing, everything collapsed.”

One such property purchased during the tenure of former AG Anand Ramlogan on Independence Avenue, San Fernando, he said, turned out to be “entirely inappropriate because the Ministry of Works basically condemned what was bought.”

He said the Independence Avenue building, which is vested in the Judiciary, “was determined not to be usable or suitable for its intended purpose and that property is now the subject of an investigation.”

President of the Assembly of Southern Lawyers, Michael Rooplal, has written to Chief Justice Ivor Archie highlighting that the relocation of the second, fourth, fifth and sixth magistrate’s courts to the Supreme Court is not only uncomfortable for practitioners, but has caused a delay in justice to those seeking redress through the courts. Traffic and family courts are operated in the Madina House building.

As a major stakeholder, the assembly in its April 26 letter, also requested a meeting with Archie to discuss the demolition of the old court building and construction of a new one at Irving Park.

Rooplal said they have received no response to date. A list of questions Newsday sent to the Judiciary, enquiring about the court status, was acknowledged pending a response.

Al-Rawi said plans have been completed for the new court which is to be constructed on the site where the old Water and Sewerage Authority building once stood at Irving Park.

“Plans have been completed for the structure. We are accelerating to deal with the construction with immediacy for a new magistrate’s court at that location.”

In the interim, he said, the hunt is on for appropriate accommodation to relocate the old magistrate’s courts.

“But in San Fernando, you are basically hard-pressed to find any structure you can use, suitable for this kind of work, something in the proximity and location and size.

He said the judiciary also has advanced plans for the establishment of a family court at the former St Joseph Sisters of the Cluny residence at the corner of Lord and Paradise Streets.

On March 15, 2012, the Cabinet of former Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar agreed to pay $30 million as a full and final settlement for the purchase of the former nuns’ residence. Al-Rawi said although the property was purchased, no work was done to establish the family court.

“Right now, I am pushing works on that property. First of all, I am having the assessment done and then to look and see what could be done in terms of a phased build out. The judiciary has some significantly advanced plans on that, and we are pushing to get that done.”