Two months ago the residents of Malabar, Arima, were confronted with the untenable decision by the Ministry of Justice to construct a judicial complex consisting of two high courts and five magistrates courts within our residential community.The proposed site lies immediately south of the recently constructed Malabar Phase IV ECCE, opposite the Malabar Phase IV Community Centre and in close proximity to the Malabar Secondary School and, notwithstanding its location, in the heart of our residential community.
Contrary to the Government's promise of people-centred governance with people participation, there were no public consultations held with the residents prior to the Ministry's roll-out of their plans at a meeting convened on June 28, 2014, at the request of the residents and the mayor of Arima.
The community of Malabar has found itself in the unfortunate position of being unrepresented in the Parliament following the resignation of our MP for D'Abadie/O'Meara, Anil Roberts. We are therefore left no choice but to stand on our own to have our voices heard.
This planned development will bring criminal elements and their associates to our residential community; will result in increased human and vehicular traffic to our neighbourhoods; will impede the daily activities of residents; will result in a devaluation of our properties; and will have an overall negative social impact on the tranquil lives of residents.
We, the residents, are not adverse to development and progress and support the construction of a judicial complex. As such we have suggested to the Ministry of Justice various alternative sites which would be more suited to courthouses of this magnitude.
These options include, but are not limited to: the area surrounding the prison facilities of Golden Grove, the lands acquired for the prison complex at Santa Rosa, the lands along the eastern side of Demerara Road abutting the proposed site for the fire station and the Agro Processing Industrial Park, and the lands in the Wallerfield area which are not high-density residential communities.We, the residents of Malabar, are unanimously and vehemently opposed to construction of these courthouses in our residential community.