MANDEVILLE, Manchester — The plan for a new courthouse in this south-central town seems set for further delays as the proposed location for the facility on Brumalia Road is facing objection from at least two leaders in the parish.

Both the Custos of Manchester Garfield Green, and the Mayor of Mandeville Donovan Mitchell have pointed to traffic congestion as a concern and the need to expand the town of Mandeville, including looking again at a 40-acre property at Kingsland.

“I am fully aware of some of the concerns being expressed about the Brumalia Road location. Residents of the community [are] saying they don’t want it there, it is not something that would [be] welcomed. The municipal corporation has expressed concern about traffic in that area of the town,” Green told the Jamaica Observer recently.

“Persons are especially concerned that it is too close to the golf course, it would not blend in well with the golf course,” he added, in reference to Manchester Golf Course.

Mitchell reiterated his objection to the Brumalia location in a discussion with the Sunday Observer recently.

“You know what my view on that is: A courthouse can’t go there,” he said.

However, Justice Minister Delroy Chuck thinks otherwise and is hoping that the Manchester Municipal Corporation will approve the building of the courthouse at the location.

“We are still hoping that the building could go up at that property that we bought some years ago. We still have to get approval from the Manchester parish council. We have written to them to ask them to approve,” Chuck said last week Wednesday.

“I know there are objections because people feel that the town is congested, but a courthouse should not be far away from the centre of the town. The courthouse itself will not necessarily burden or increase the traffic unduly, because nowadays, [for] most courthouses — apart from the judges and the people who work in the court — the attendance is not overwhelming because, for the future, a lot of the case will be virtual so that the public, at large, and even the witnesses don’t have to be in the court itself, and we are moving towards a system where witnesses can be elsewhere and, in fact, the people can view what is happening in the court,” added Chuck.

The structure of the more than 200-year-old Mandeville courthouse, in urgent need of replacement and long considered inadequate for the rapidly escalating court requirements, was damaged by fire on November 7, 2019.

In early 2020, lands were acquired for the construction of the new courthouse on Brumalia Road, off Caledonia Road — a few hundred metres north of the old courthouse.

Soil testing was done at the location, which is adjacent the Southern Regional Health Authority’s office, in August 2020.

The old courthouse, which now houses the Family Court, was commissioned for that purpose in December 2021.

The fire at the old courthouse had forced the relocation of the Parish Court to James Warehouse Plaza, close to the centre of Mandeville.

Several leaders, including Chief Justice Bryan Sykes, have said that a new courthouse for Mandeville is necessary as the rented space is inadequate for its operations.

Defence attorney and King’s Counsel Peter Champagnie shared a similar sentiment.

“The present circumstances where the courts are being held — and that is not just in relation to the Parish Court for Manchester here, but also the Circuit Court in these circumstances — is absolutely ridiculous and shameful,” he said last Monday.

Champagnie, who like other lawyers has had to deal with crammed courtrooms at the rented property, expressed frustration.

“We cannot continue to operate like this, and it creates an environment where there are safety concerns, security concerns, and it is something that I think is impatient of debate in terms of a relocation.

“We cannot continue to operate like this, and it may just be a matter of time before there is some kind of security breach where we recognise the importance of having an adequate space in terms of court hearings and not just adequate space in terms of the infrastructure, but for counsel to be seated properly, for accused persons to be [placed], have a proper place in terms of the dock, and for the judges to be comfortable. So, as I said before, this whole issue is impatient of any debate. We need to have this rectified, and rectified immediately,” he said while pointing to some improvements in the justice system.

“…But alongside that must be proper infrastructure to dispense justice,” he added.

Councillor David Knight (People’s National Party, Walderston Division), at the recent sitting of the Manchester Municipal Corporation, also chimed in on the issue.

“After the announcement by the prime minister [Dr Andrew Holness] in that [Chamber of Commerce] function, the moderator said to the prime minister, ‘We really appreciate you talking about a park, but what about thinking about the justice system, because we don’t have a courthouse.’ So there are persons who wanted other things and our mayor would have wanted consultation,” he said.

“I don’t see nothing wrong with him going on a platform and saying it, but there were other persons there who were saying to the prime minister face-to-face, ‘We nuh want nuh park, we want a justice centre because we nuh have nuh courthouse. We are paying rent at a place for the courthouse and we don’t have nuh courthouse.’ Let us take the politics out of this, because at the end of the day one of the party is going to rule… Let us look at the development of our parish and see how we, as a people, can enhance it,” added Knight.

Chuck told the Sunday Observer that plans for the new courthouse are still being worked on, including the costing of the project.

“The matter is still going through the process where the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ) is putting together a proposed [memorandum of understanding] to be worked with any private sector body that would be willing to work with the Government in putting up the courthouse.

“The drawings are being looked at, but at the end of the day, it has to be put out to tender under the public/private sector partnership. It is far advanced, but we still have to work out the process in a clear manner that we can do the costing and the DBJ is responsible. They are working with the Court Administration Division now to determine the number of courtrooms, what should be a part of that complex, because, at the moment, we hope that Mandeville will not only do cases from Manchester, but maybe cases from St Elizabeth and Clarendon,” he said.

He said, too, that the “regional judicial complex” will be an iconic building.

“… It is a process which is, unfortunately, taking an unduly long time, but at the end of the day we hope when it is finalised, it will be satisfactory for everyone,” he said.

When asked if consideration could be given to having a new urban centre for Mandeville, Chuck was quick to point out that there are no such plans at this time.

“Nothing is being planned for Mandeville like was done in Morant Bay. Truth of the matter is that, Mandeville, the traffic congestion is something to be sorted out… In truth, you can’t put a courthouse where, especially witnesses who attend court, [do not] have easy access to the court, if you put it five or three miles away from the town, it is going to be a burden on the witnesses and the stakeholders who have to come to court, so it is very important to be central within the precincts of the town,” he said.

However, for Custos Green, the construction of an urban centre at Kingsland is a vision that he hopes others will see.

“Another important service provided by the Government is the justice centre that each parish has. I think that could be located on this property at Kingsland and, based on the design — because it is a wide span of property — maybe the Children’s [Family] Court could also be housed out there,” he said while pointing to the possibility of having a museum at the old courthouse.

“The fire station, the tax office, the justice centre, and the courthouse, I believe, could definitely go out by the property at Kingsland,” he added.

Green believes this will bring life to the area just a few kilometres west of Mandeville.

“I believe that putting these agencies out there would create socio-economic development for that community; you would have people establishing restaurants, bars, and new taxi routes being developed. There would be some amount of economic life that this would enhance for many people,” he said.

“I have heard the argument that it is too far, but too far doesn’t mean anything to me because people travel from Mandeville to the Supreme Court in Kingston. People go where they want services. People go where they have to go, and it might seem remote, but out there can be developed,” added Green.

Last year concerns were raised after it was revealed that the Government was paying $12 million per month for a leased property not yet occupied on Greenvale Road in Mandeville to accommodate the services of the tax office.

“We should think carefully to utilise that land for the courthouse and possibly for the tax office. There is a lot being said about the tax office these days, that property has been acquired but it has not yet been [occupied],” Green said.

He is warning that a decision on the Kingsland property should be made soon, before it is overrun by squatting.

“Squatters have started occupying the property. It was reported to me twice; it was brought to the relevant authority’s attention that squatters have moved onto the property and we don’t want it to be taken over by them fully,” he said.

CHUCK… we are still hoping that the building could go up at that property that we bought some years ago (Photo: Kasey Williams)

MITCHELL… you know what my view on that is, a courthouse can’t go there (Photo: Kasey Williams)

CHAMPAGNIE… we cannot continue to operate like this and it may just be a matter of time before there is some kind of security breach (Photo: Kasey Williams)