$45m approved for temporary courthouse in Morant Bay
Published:Thursday | December 16, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Philip Hamilton, Gleaner Writer
Nearly three years after the Morant Bay courthouse in St Thomas was destroyed by fire, Cabinet has approved $45 million for the construction of temporary facilities.
Finance Minister Audley Shaw on Tuesday told members of the House Standing Finance Committee reviewing the first Supplementary Estimates that a contract for the commencement of work is to be signed sometime next week.
Shaw was responding to questions from Dr Omar Davies, opposition spokesman on finance, who had asked him whether the facilities had been completed.
"I think I heard an interview with a gentleman in the House indicating that everything would have been finished by December. He's here at present, but he can't speak," Davies replied in response to Shaw's response on Cabinet's approval of the funds.
"Maybe he didn't tell you which year," Shaw joked, much to the amusement of several committee members.
Shaw told Davies, who further enquired about the expected completion date of the temporary courthouse, that the facilities would be ready by May 2011.
The temporary courthouse is to be constructed on lands donated by the Ministry of Transport and Works.
However, a source told The Gleaner that some members of the St Thomas Parish Council have expressed reservation about the site chosen for the temporary courthouse facilities, describing the location as undesirable.
Efforts to contact a representative from the parish council for comment were unsuccessful.