Heat in di court!
July 26, 2007
Justice Roy Jones has opted to cancel the afternoon sessions of the extended Easter Session of the St James Circuit Court in the face of unbeareable heat caused by non-functioning air conditioning units in the main court room.
The judge's decision almost certainly means that the 23 cases scheduled to be heard during the session which started on July 12 and will end on July 31, won't.
The Observer West has learnt that the High Court judge's position is that even if he was minded to subject himself and the court staff to the heat, he was not going to put the public including the jurors through it, as it wouldn't be fair.
Members of the bar have long complained about the lack of air conditioning all but one of the five court rooms on the building.
The Observer West understands that the only properly functioning air conditioning unit is in the Western Regional Gun Court, which is being maintained by the Cornwall Bar Association.
In the meantime a senior advocate is blasting recent expenditure by the government on closed-circuit cameras, which were mistakenly installed in the courtrooms instead of the corridors for security purposes. The cameras have yet to be removed.
"Closed-circuit cameras in the courtrooms are of no use," he said, noting that the money would have been better spent on upgrading the air-conditioning system.
Acting Administrator for the St James Court, Paulella Reid-Morris, told the Observer West that she was aware of the situation. She declined to elaborate however.
In the face of the rising temperatures, the windows in the courtroom used by Senior Resident Magistrate, Winsome Henry, has had to be opened to admit fresh air.
This has led to frequent interruptions as the court has been forced to pause until the noise from vehicular traffic along Embassy Place, that runs parallel to the court building, subsides.
Additionally, other members of the court staff told the Observer West, under condition of anonymity, that several offices are without the service of air conditioning.
They said the fans that had been placed in the main, as well as several offices, hardly made a difference.
Author: Paul A Reid
Source: Jamaica Observer
