Bids invited for construction of Friendship Magistrate’s Court

To provide easier access to justice to every citizen, the Government has promised to build more courthouses along the populated East Bank Demerara (EBD) corridor and in the hinterland regions. To this end, the Supreme Court of Judicature is inviting eligible bidders to bid for the construction of the Friendship Magistrate’s Court and living quarters on the EBD.
According to a notice published by the Supreme Court’s Registrar, Sueanna Lovell, bidding will be conducted through the National Competitive Bidding (NCB) procedure specified in the Procurement Act of 2003 and is open to eligible qualified bidders.
Bid documents for the project can be uplifted upon payment of a non-refundable $10,000 at the Supreme Court’s Accounts Department at Lot 1 Charlotte Street and Avenue of the Republic, Georgetown. Importantly, all bids must be accompanied by a bid security, and valid certificates of compliance from the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) and the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) in the name of the bidder, whether they be an individual or a company.
Furthermore, all bids shall be submitted in a plain envelope and delivered to the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB), Ministry of Finance, Main and Urquhart Streets, Georgetown, before 9 am on April 18. The notice advises that bids shall be submitted in two forms, that is, hard copy and electronic copy. Late bids will be rejected and returned to the bidder unopened while bids that are not clearly labelled will not be opened.
The Judiciary has been taking steps to ensure that justice is delivered on time regardless of where citizens live by constructing new Magistrates’ Courts, expanding several courthouses, and opening new Magisterial Districts. It is hoped that more Judges and Magistrates will be appointed soon to complement the massive upgrades to the Judiciary’s physical infrastructure, once the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), which has been defunct since 2017, is reconstituted.
The Judiciary has also commissioned Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation Courts and Children’s Courts as well as specialised courts for hearing sexual offences such as rape.
For this year, $6.2 billion has been allocated to the justice sector from the $789.1 billion national budget, Guyana’s largest budget ever. It will be used for several endeavours, including the construction of new courts, rehabilitation and expansion of existing courts, and summary court training prosecutors. Also, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is being deployed to improve the efficiency of the court system. In this regard, SMART courts are among the new projects intended in 2023 to accelerate the provision of justice.
An e-Litigation Programme for the Court of Appeal and the Georgetown High Court, as well as a Case Management System for the Magistrates’ Courts are intended to go live in 2023. (G1)