Court Operations Continue in Western Parishes

The Court Administration Division (CAD) has implemented measures to ensure continuity of court operations in western parishes that were affected by Hurricane Melissa.

Director of Client Services, Communications and Information at the CAD, Kadiesh Jarrett-Fletcher, told JIS News that several courthouses sustained damage, with the St. Elizabeth Parish Court in Black River being the most impacted.

“In St. Elizabeth, we have lost a main court, which is the Black River courthouse. That has been a total loss,” she said.

“What we have done in the aftermath of that is to relocate matters that were scheduled for that courthouse to the Santa Cruz outstation. We have also taken the decision to use the Balaclava building more than we were previously because the facilities there were adequate to take that on. We were able to successfully have a circuit court there,” Mrs. Jarrett-Fletcher indicated.

She further informed that in Westmoreland, the Savanna-la-Mar courthouse suffered significant damage and is currently unusable.

“We have an outstation in Whithorn and we have been using that outstation to hear family and civil and criminal matters because the family court in Westmorland also had significant damage in that it lost its roof,” she said.

Parish court matters are held at the Whithorn outstation on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, while family court matters are heard on Wednesdays and Fridays.

A skeleton staff remains at the Savanna-la-Mar building to assist the public with accessing relevant information.

“We are asking persons to visit that location to get information on the new dates for their matters and to get basic information without having to make their way up to Whithorn, which we understand might be a little distance away for some persons,” said Mrs. Jarrett-Fletcher.

“The collecting officer for the family court is also based at the Savanna-la-Mar building with that skeleton staff because that person will facilitate collecting officers’ payments. There are some maintenance matters, for example, for which the collecting officer is required, so those persons can go to that building where those payments can be facilitated,” she advised.

Courthouses in Hanover and St. James experienced only minor damage and resumed court sittings quickly.

The Trelawny Parish Court also restarted normal operations following clean-up activities.