High Court staff to return to High Street premises; Minister Maria Browne gives another deadline after missing earlier targets

The minister of works has broken her promise to complete
renovations on the High Street building that houses the St. John’s
Magistrates Court by the end of September 2023.

During a sitting of Parliament last year, MP Maria Browne boasted
about her government’s accomplishments and told the Lower House
that the St. John’s Court would be back at its original location by
October 2023, with the staff and operations being completely in
place by the end of that month.
 
Five months later, the Court is yet to be moved from its current
location in the Community Centre at Knuckle Block, where it has
been for well over four years.
 
Due to mold infestation and other issues at the High Street location,
the Court was moved temporarily to Grays Farm, and work on the
High Street building commenced in 2022.
 
Now, on Wednesday January 31, Minister Browne is said to have
told her Cabinet colleagues that the Court building on High Street is
fewer than three weeks away from completion.
 
This means the staff should return to the old location shortly after,
but with a more conducive work environment.
 
Residents of the Grays Green community should be pleased by this
news, since the Chinese-built Community Centre was a gift to them
from their former parliamentary representative, Prime Minister
Baldwin Spencer.

Another happy camper should be current MP Richard Lewis, who,
for years, has been advocating for the building to be handed over to
the community and used for its intended purposes.