FALMOUTH, Trelawny — Justice Minister Delroy Chuck says the collapse of the Trelawny Parish Court roof has highlighted the need for the planned construction of the facility on the grounds of the Trelawny Justice Centre.

“It is also a good indication why we need to build a new parish court for Trelawny, which is on the drawing board. We’re going to put it exactly where the justice centre is. It will be dealt with by a public/private sector partnership. It is one of the new parish courts we expect to build within the next three to five years,” Chuck told the Observer West.

“I wish it could be earlier, but a lot depends on procurement, procurement, procurement,” he said.

For his part, custos of Trelawny Hugh Gentles embraced the planned construction of a new parish court and expressed hope that the work will be done quickly.

“Yes, I absolutely support it. I think it should be expedited,” Gentles told the Observer West.

He argued that the time has come for the establishment of a state-of-the-art court, to be ideally located outside the hustle and bustle in Falmouth where it is currently housed upstairs a building owned by the Trelawny Municipal Corporation (TMC).

“I think we need to get it out of the town and get it with the rest of the justice centre buildings up there, where it’s much more convenient for everybody — staff, court staff, et cetera. And that building in Falmouth is not fit for purpose anymore,” Gentles argued.

“Nowadays the courts have to be totally redesigned. That is what I think that I’ve heard the minister of justice said over and over because the courts were designed with no space for the court staff. But there’s so many other people coming into the courts now that need office space. You can’t have prisoners sitting on the same bench as witnesses. So they really need fit-for-purpose buildings,” he added.

The TMC said it is now working to carry out urgent repairs to the section of the roof which started to cave in last week Wednesday.

“We are working assiduously to see how quickly we can get the damage rectified. We are now in dialogue with the Ministry of Justice and we hope to the address the inconvenience expeditiously,” TMC Chairman Councillor C Junior Gager (Jamaica Labour Party, Warsop Division).

Chuck had revealed that the Ministry of Justice intended to undertake the repair work but the TMC took the responsibility.

“We wanted to fix it, but the parish council say that they will do it because it is their property. But the position is that we expect that it will be dealt with shortly by them,” Chuck said.

He added that all matters from Falmouth Courthouse have now been moved to the Duncans Courthouse.

Falmouth Courthouse, which was built in 1815, was destroyed by fire and rebuilt in 1926.

The Trelawny Justice Centre is located on seven acres of land in Rock, just outside of Falmouth.