Public Building Repaired but Not Ready for Court Opening
The 2024 session of the High Court will open with its usual pomp and circumstance next Monday, but the building that conducted cases for the High Court and the Magistrate’s Court, also known as the Treasury Building, or the Public Building, will not be ready for the occasion. That’s because while the repair and restorative work on the badly damaged and deteriorated building is, for the most part, complete, the new furniture that comes along with the package is still being completed. The almost century-old court buildings were built in 1926 after previous fires destroyed the first two wooden structures that stood in their place in 1820, and then again in 1918. The public building had to undergo urgent repair and restoration after Hurricane Lisa in November 2022 rendered the building unfit for occupancy. Both buildings had also receive restorative care under the Downtown Rejuvenation Project, but as we found out today, the damage caused by the hurricane uncovered even more hazards that were literally lying in the cracks. News Five’s Britney Gordon reports.
Britney Gordon, Reporting
We all remember the collapsing roof of the historic public building back in November 2022. Hurricane Lisa had ripped through Belize City on November second, rendering what was the then Supreme Court and Magistrate’s Court building a dangerously decrepit structure. Then continuous rains thereafter exacerbated the structure to a derelict state. Sharon Fraser was the Chief Magistrate at the time.
Sharon Fraser
Sharon Fraser, Chief Magistrate (File: November 22nd, 2022)
“When e came here Monday, I met a courtroom where the entire ceiling, all the light fixtures, electrical stuff – everything was down – the place full with water and the mould, the smell of the mould was just unbearable. So a decision was taken that I would close down that side of the building, which is the left side of this building.”
Marion Ali
“Which houses how many courtrooms?”
Sharon Fraser
“It houses four active courtrooms; there is a fifth room, but four active courts and the cellblock area.”
Court sessions had to be deferred to the start of 2022 to give the government time to identify temporary venues for Magistrate and High Court hearings. The Ministry of Infrastructure Development and Housing was commissioned to intervene and take charge of the repairs and whatever restorative work was possible. After more than two years, the work on the structure has been completed. The Ministry’s Chief Engineer, Evondale Moody
Evondale Moody
Evondale Moody, Chief Engineer, MIDH
“So we had two contractor one for the roof, and also one for the main building itself. Of discussion, is the main structure, which is the ground and first floor, which were rehabilitated by LN Construction at a tune of approximately 2.69 million Belize dollars. It was done in two phases. The first phase was to address the first floor and thereafter the ground floor with the works that the MIBH had to put in for the rehabilitation. It was very extensive, as I’ve mentioned, because basically we had to take out the entire interior of the building and bring it back to fruition. So we undertook that during a period of approximately 10 months. We started in March of 2023 and those works were substantially completed around November last year.”
The repairs on the building have already been completed; however, it is not quite ready to be used. Against Moody’s hopes, the courthouse will not be in operation for the first court session of the year.
Evondale Moody
“In discussions with the Chief Justice, she has asked for collaboration for the furnishing of the building since she believes that we did a fairly good job on the structure. She has asked that the MIDH incorporate the furniture for the four courts that are there and the office spaces and so that is what we’re currently working on to procure furniture and other items that are required for the functionality of the building. So that will take us some time. I believe maybe another month or two months. We have commenced that process already, but we still have to wait for those to be arrived in the country. And so that will take us at least another sixty days. So we don’t think that we should have it fully furnished until possibly about March”
Nothing is without it’s silver lining, as although the damage inflicted to the Supreme Court by Hurricane Lisa was devastating, it allowed for the building to undergo some much needed repairs and allow for preexisting issues that once flew under the radar, to be exposed and addressed.
Sharon Fraser
“Maybe Lisa is a blessing because this might very well be where consideration is given to putting that building at Chetumal Street. We had already been promised a location. I know that the second building to have been considered being built would have been that of the Magistrate’s Court.”
Evondale Moody
“I think because of the exposure that was done as a result of Hurricane Lisa, we saw what was happening under the floor. I think when they did that project they did not see what was happening under the floor. And so, it was when we had to remove the floor, because that floor was damaged, that is when we observed that we had some beams that had woodlice and that we had OUT 10:28 to address.”
Britney Gordon for News Five.
