SOME staff members at the Supreme Court in downtown Kingston are crying out for help, as they say they fear for their safety, and are also peeved about the lack of canteen facilities.

The staff members have directed their grouses at Minister of Justice Delroy Chuck and Commissioner of Police Dr Kevin Blake.

They claim that they have had no working canteen for around five years, after the canteen was shut down, reportedly because it posed a fire hazard, as it was located above a very important room on the court building on King Street.

One employee told the Jamaica Observer that added to that issue, members of staff have to navigate the unsafe court surroundings, which is littered daily with people of unsound mind, and only feel relieved once they’ve entered the court building.

“The other day a man punched down a member of staff out at the front. Another member of staff was spat on, one morning. There was one occasion where a man pulled a machete to attack one of the cleaners outside there. We have been speaking and it has been falling on deaf ears, so we are asking the minister of justice and the commissioner of police to intervene,” said the employee, who, like the others quoted in this story, requested anonymity for fear of sanctioning.

Another employee said the issues that they have are kept hush-hush, causing the problems to go unsolved. The employee explained that people are tired of complaining to their superiors without any changes taking place, and therefore had to draw it to the attention of the media.

“The courtyard is too loose [unsecured] around the front because no judge or lawyer has to park out there. There is no security for staff until they reach the Supreme Court building. [And then] the security in the building is so strict — mind sharp staff might not even get let in. Yet still, everybody can walk in through the gate and come on the compound and do anything to the staff. Homeless people come in and catch water and vendors come in to sell on the compound.“

The employee added: “There is no security for the staff who might want to sit down in the courtyard on a daily basis. An auxiliary staff member came to work one morning and got held up by a man at the gate. These things need to be highlighted. Staff are complaining about their security and the situation with the street people. I don’t know if they are waiting for someone to lose their life before there is an intervention. At the moment, anybody can come in.”

Meanwhile, the Observer was told that before the canteen was shut down roughly five years ago, employees benefited from a system where lunches were subsidised. Even people who had court cases or other business at the court were able to make lunch purchases at the canteen when it was in operation.

“We have had no canteen for about five or six years,” one worker shared. “They said it was a fire hazard. Then they just locked it down and nothing more was said or done. People have to go on the road to fend for themselves. Lunch was subsidised and people used to eat up there. Now we only have a vending machine, which is a joke. Some of us have to be at work from morning until night.”

An attorney-at-law gave comments on the canteen issue, saying it was unfortunate that a vending machine was made to replace some canteen services.

“Three other court facilities used to benefit from the canteen. They could have subcontracted it to someone to become a revenue earner,” the attorney said.

Regarding the safety concerns, the attorney was very direct — “I have never liked what takes place outside the court. It makes things look like a joke,” he said.