SAVANNA-LA-MAR, Westmoreland — Unimpressed after his first visit of the Westmoreland Parish Court’s facilities, Minister of Justice Delroy Chuck has promised a substantial upgrade in the near future.

“Here in Westmoreland, it’s the first time I’m visiting; this court is not yet one star. By the time we’re finished with it, I want it to be five star. Just walking and looking around, it’s quite clear that a lot of work needs to be done in this court,” he said.

Located across from the Westmoreland Municipal Corporation, the building also houses their roads and works committee.

“At the moment there is a shortage of space because I understand at one time it was used by the Westmoreland Municipal Corporation. The municipal corporation has now put in a new building… and we are hoping [to have] dialogue and negotiations with the municipal council, that they should be able to give up the rest of the space on this courthouse so that the court staff and judges can utilise it and we can fix it up properly,” the minister said.

“I will be meeting with the judges and the staff here to find out how best we can make this court not only fully efficient and operational, but how we can lift the standards so that when people come here, they can get first-class service,” he added.

There is no estimate, yet, for the cost of the project but Chuck promised that it will be upgraded as soon as the building has been inspected and the scope of work identified.

“We have some resources, so it’s a question of identifying what needs to be done right away and it will be at the top of the list to have it done. Once we identify what can be done, what should be done, then the resources are available so we will at least start doing so. It would be nice to negotiate with the municipal council to take over the building fully,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

The plan is to have new court houses built in five other parishes within the next five years.

“We will be building new courts in St James, Trelawny, St Ann, Manchester, and St Catherine. Those are five courts that I am projecting will be built over the next three to five years. The other courts, we just have to upgrade, and this court is to the best of my knowledge maybe close to 100 years old. So it means that it really requires a lot of upgrading but it’s still a functional court,” he said.

The minister visited the parochial-level halls of justice during last Saturday’s launch of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Programme’s Westmoreland location. The hope is that some matters can be amicably resolved outside of the courts.

“We want to find out how best we can increase the services and also to redirect some of what they do here to alternative dispute resolution. Because with this alternative dispute resolution, we are hoping that restorative justice, mediation, child diversion, [and] victim services can take off hundreds of the cases. That is the mission here and I’m hoping an impact can be made in this parish,” said Chuck.