LUCEA, Hanover– After ten years of toing and froing, the ministry of justice last week signed an $88-million contract for the construction of the Hanover Family Court.

Representatives from the Ministry of Justice, the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) and the European Union (EU), who handed over the site to contractors Sharecon Construction Limited, expect that the project will be completed in September.

The project is being funded by money from the EU’s Poverty Alleviation Funds.

For the past 10 years, family court cases in Hanover have been tried at the Lucea Resident Magistrate’s Court building due to the dilapidated state of the current structure on the Watson Taylor Road.

“This is a great step in the right direction when we can put our citizens in facilities that are conducive… this is what they deserve,” said Robert Rainford, permanent secretary in the ministry of justice.

Daphne Smith, court administrator for the St James, Hanover and Westmoreland divisions, also expressed pleasure.

“I am extremely happy to know that we are getting this court and will be able to deliver timely justice in a good working environment,” Smith told the Observer West.

Ground for the project will be broken next Thursday.