Linton P. Gordon
The citizens of St. Ann are not being provided with the standard of service that they expect to receive from the Judicial and Legal System in the parish. During the previous PNP Administration half of the courts in St. Ann were closed. That was a brutal slap in the face of the citizens of St. Ann. The closure of these courts continues to be a source of humiliation, expense and difficulty for the citizens of St. Ann.
There was a court in Cave Valley which has been closed. This Court served areas such as Aboukir, Clarksonville, Douglas Castle, Murray Mountain, Linton Park, Inverness and Watt Town, to name just some of these communities. These communities are all located in upper St. Ann, which is hilly terrain with poor road conditions. These persons now have to face the expenses of travelling, in some instances, as much as thirty (30) miles to Brown’s Town to gain access to a courthouse. The court in Moneague has been closed and as a result citizens of Blackstonedge, Middlesex, Gibraltar, Camperdown, Faiths Pen and Riverhead, Exchange, now have to make their way to Claremont to gain access to a Court. The court in Ocho Rios has been closed and this has deprived citizens of Beecher Town, Walkerswood, Colgate, Exchange, Lodge and Mile End of easy access to a court. They now have to make their way to St. Ann’s Bay to get to a court.
ST ANN’S BAY HUMILIATION
The closure of fifty per cent (50%) of the courthouses in St. Ann is an act of oppression against the citizens of St. Ann. The decision has deprived thousands of citizens of the easy access they have had to courts in the parish from the time of their birth.
Ocho Rios is acknowledged to be the main commercial centre in St. Ann. Despite this, the court there has been closed and there are no known plans to re-open a Court in Ocho Rios. The remaining three (3) courts in St. Ann are inadequate in a number of ways.
In the first instance the only true court in St. Ann is the Brown’s Town Court. The Court in Claremont is held upstairs the Police Station in an area which was designated for accommodation for police officers. Another court is held on the Claremont Police Station premises in a room that is used primarily for the meeting of community groups. There is therefore no courthouse in Claremont. In St. Ann’s Bay, the main courts office for the parish, the court is being held in the Parish Council building under very humiliating conditions. Humiliating, because the administrators of the Parish Council never miss the opportunity to remind the courts staff that they are there at their convenience. Thus, the parking area is exclusively for members of the Parish Council: Lawyers have to pay to park there while members of the court staff and the Judges have to get special permission to park in the car park.
In addition, there is only one proper court room in St. Ann’s Bay for court to be held. Sittings are also held downstairs in two rooms, one of which is referred to as ‘the box’. It is referred to as ‘the box’ because this is a very small room about four metres by four metres in size and so inadequate is it that when the lawyers are seated in front of the Judge, they are within arm’s length from the Judge. They can see and read the contents of the Judge’s notes and the Judge can also see and read the Briefs of the lawyers appearing before him or her. It is a scandal and a disgrace to have a court sitting in a room of this size. It is an act of humiliation against the Judge and it is a source of embarrassment and humiliation for litigants to be asked to sit in a court convened in a room of this size.
The citizens of St. Ann must understand that the reduction in the number of courts and the inadequate accommodation for the remaining three (3) courts are the main factors contributing to the back log of cases in the parish. Going forward, the government must establish a proper court in St. Ann.
It cannot be that the parish of St. Ann is seen by the government as a revenue destiny where it collects millions from tourism, mining and agriculture, spend these funds in other parishes and leaves the citizens of St. Ann to suffer the indignity of not having a proper judicial system to their service.
There is an urgent need to build a proper courthouse either in Ocho Rios or St. Ann’s Bay. A proper court should also be built in Cave Valley to service the citizens in the upper hills of St. Ann. Moneague has an important historical foundation in St. Ann. It has always been an important town with a military training camp, a teacher’s college in which a hotel was once located. A proper courthouse should be constructed in Moneague thereby providing access for the citizens of surrounding communities.
Providing easy access to the source of justice is a fundamental step towards establishing equality. The citizens of St. Ann who have seen 50% of their courts closed are being denied access to the seat of justice. It is time to restore this access.
