The National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) has said the new magistrate’s court that is to be built at Friendship, East Bank Demerara would cost a total of $388,873,985.
The project has been awarded to Romano Builders General Building, one of nine contenders, after the national bidding process for the contract had been completed.
The Supreme Court of Judicature, acting as the procuring entity, had estimated that the project to construct the court and the living quarters would have cost $418,259,540.
In this year’s national budget, Government has allocated a whopping $6.2 billion for enhancement of the justice sector, which is intended to expand access to justice countrywide, while also addressing existing challenges in the system.
During a recommissioning ceremony for the $24 million Mibicuri Magistrate’s Court in September last year, Attorney General (AG) and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, SC, had announced plans for constructing the Friendship Court, among other projects.
“This is the development that we are seeing in the judiciary…We are constructing a brand-new court at Mabaruma in Region One. We are constructing a brand-new court at Vigilance on the East Coast of Demerara; at Cove and John; at Mahaicony… We are building one at Parfaite Harmonie; we are building one at Timehri, very close to the airport; and we are building one at Friendship, on the East Bank of Demerara, abutting the new connecting highway that will join the Diamond Access Road to the Soesdyke-Linden Highway,” Nandlall had stated.
As per recent reports in other sections of the media, the Supreme Court of Judicature is also building a court and living quarters at Timehri. That project has been awarded to Orion Engineering Inc. for $303,905,015.
Construction of these facilities is in keeping with the PPP/C Government’s Manifesto promise to ensure that the delivery of justice is improved in Guyana.
