Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre has thanked the judiciary and bar association members for their patience regarding the long-delayed Halls of Justice project.
The sod-turning ceremony for the $143 million project occurred on Friday.
The Prime Minister noted that the initiative had experienced a decade of planning and disruptions.
The project initially should have started at Barnard Hill.
Later, the Millennium Highway and La Toc became likely locations, with planners eventually choosing two lots on Laborie Street, Castries.
The old courthouse site will be the new home of the Civil and Family Division, and the former site of the Ministry of Education will house the Criminal Division. An overhead bridge will connect both buildings.
The government signed a Build Own Lease Transfer (BOLT) agreement with Themis—NH International for the project and expected its completion in two years.
“Our systems must be able to provide accessible and efficient services to the public,” Prime Minister Pierre wrote on Facebook.
The four-storey building will house fourteen courtrooms, six magistrate chambers, and nine judges’ chambers.
It will also accommodate eleven witness rooms, ten administrative offices, a law library, a police post, holding cells, and a high-security defendant dock.
Mem bet meme pwel you all that put Saint Lucia in that mess god will deal with you all when the time comes
Oh Pierre, you are so divisive and vindictive, now you trying to erase every thing the last administration did. The Kenny administration at one time wanted to use the old mental hospital, refurbish it and use it as the Hall of Justice. Chastenet administration demolished the old headquarters and prisons for building that project. He mentioned several sites but decided to conveniently forget the last proposed venue. Why? Maybe it was the most appropriate location. Wait for the next 2 to 3 years when this hall of justice is functioning. I foresee the fiasco that will be with parking, pedestrian traffic and the list goes on.
That idea was there under Chas but certainly not in this nightmare of a location!! What would justify any group of so called educated people (lawyers as well) to agree to this location. This will be a logistical nightmare….where is the urban renewal ministry in all of this?
The hall of justice..
Our Law Makers ..
Let’s follow Thou shall not Kill..!
Please let common sence
?? We must stop .
Time will TELL.
Where will the parking be? no one needs a library anymore in this digital era.
Where’s my last comment? what I said was, why dig up that part of Laborie St. right in the heart of the center of the City? whereas there’s so much space beyond the Bridge on Bridge St. where the old demolished Jail house was plus the Site of the Police headquarters just beyond the Castries River. There’s so much space for Car parking too. There seems to be no point writing these comments and its sad to chock up the City with more Vehicles, where there’s an obvious alternative. After all is said and done, we should all join together in love and say – PRAISE THE LORD.