Second court needed | Authorities to assess, repair old courthouse
The old Magistrate’s Court building in John’s Hole, Tortola has not been used since Hurricane Irma last year.
The hurricane-ravaged Magistrate’s Court building in John’s Hole, Tortola is to undergo an assessment for it to then be repaired, Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Deputy Governor, Carolyn Stoutt-Igwe has said.
Stoutt-Igwe said plans are in the pipeline to transform the now-damaged building much-needed second courthouse and office space.
The renovation is one of the projects earmarked under the $65.2 million Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) loan that government borrowed for hurricane recovery.
“This week, they [assessors] were conducting site visits at all of the properties that fall under our office,” she said.
As it relates to the cost of the renovation works, Stoutt-Igwe said: “While there might have been preliminary estimates earlier on, so much has changed since then. [Hence], we will not have the cost of the project [until] the CDB consultants assess the full damage.”
A second courthouse was previously located at the state-owned Prospect Reef Resort on Tortola. However, due to the pending redevelopment of the resort, the court is not being reinstated at that relocation.
Criminal matters are currently held at the newly-built modular building in John’s Hole while traffic, civil and quasi court matters are held at the Quastisky Building in Road Town.
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What about the High/Supreme Court! They need their own building to house both Civil and Criminal courts.all the focus don’t have time because on the magistrate court.