No water to facilitate sanitation at Sutton St court

JUST OVER a year ago, Chief Justice Bryan Sykes, then appointed to act in the position, promised Jamaicans that under his watch the court system would not be business as usual.

He was quoted as saying that his “vision is for our judiciary to be the best in the Caribbean region in three years, and among the best in the world in six years, beginning March 1, 2019”.

He said “courts will start on time and trial time productively utilised. All stakeholders – judges, court staff, witnesses, jurors, attorneysat-law, police officers, and others – despite the many challenges they face, must resolve to come to court to assist in the administration of justice”.

Here is one of the challenges, Chief Justice. It is evident that it is at the urging of the Government that steps are being made to speed up the hearing of court cases and yet the welfare of workers are apparently being sidestepped.

What do workers do when they turn up for work and cannot use the sanitary facilities because there is no water? I refer in particular to the Sutton Street court which has been without water, at least for the past week.

Are the chief justice, Minister of Justice Delroy Chuck, Court Management Services, the National Water Commission and

others aware of this predicament being faced by the workers there?

If I turn up for work at my place of employment and there is no water for sanitary facilities in my department, at least I can assure that management will make alternative arrangements. This is not to blame the chief justice or even the minister, but what about Court Management Services?

ONLINE INFORMATION

My understanding is that – and readers can check their website – “the establishment of the court Management Service serves to restructure the institutional framework through which administrative services are provided to the courts and further strengthen judicial independence. The agency’s establishment is designed to enable the judiciary and the courts to have greater input in budgetary decisions and execution of activities surrounding the operations of the courts. The organisation is responsible for performing a range of court-related administrative services, including property management and maintenance”.

Property management and maintenance must include taking care of the facilities, like ensuring that water is available, even if it has to be trucked to the properties in this time of drought. CONCERNED CITIZEN Kingston