THE variation in figures pertaining to the extension of the building on Croal Street that would house the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts is largely due to the change in designs and added works, which had to be done to ensure the safety, comfort and convenience of magistrates and other persons who would visit the facility to conduct business and have matters heard.

The Kaieteur News yesterday carried an article titled “Magistrates’ Court starts at $50M, completed at $130M”, in which the figures quoted do not represent the true cost of the project. There was, however, an addition to the original cost, but that pertained to added works which had to be done as part of the project, but not in a way that saw overruns.

Junior Finance Minister Juan Edghill, who visited the court on Wednesday and met with contractors, explained the magnitude of the works, and the reasons for added works being done to the facility. The minister said that while there was an initial figure that spoke to the extension and renovation of the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts, the need later arose for there to be several additions in respect to the works being carried out at the facility, among which were parking spaces, procurement of a transformer, revetment works, and construction of two other courtrooms to take the total number to eleven.

This newspaper was informed that AC units were installed to deal with the vicissitudes of the tropical climate. In addition, the noise levels outside of the court building, largely emanating from the car parks below, often made it impossible for magistrates, lawyers, plaintiffs and defendants to hear each other, thus a decision was taken to have the court sessions done with closed doors and windows, which required that air conditioning units be installed.

The other addition to the project was the change in design of proposed wooden revetments to concrete ones, which would also support the construction of yet another addition — the parking spaces at the northern and southern sections of the courthouse, which are designed to facilitate parking for magistrates, since, in the past, they were forced to park their vehicles distances away, and were made to walk to the courthouse.

The parking facilities will not in any way be defeating their purpose, according to one of the court managers, since the lots would be reserved, and anyone who chooses to park at the spots will have their vehicles towed away, and may well end up at the very court to answer charges.

One of the most critical aspects of the extension was the construction of two other courtrooms on the southern section of the building. Because of the additional courtrooms, there was a greater demand for power to the building, given the added room and instillation of air conditioning units. Those works made necessary procurement of a transformer for the facility, since the power load of the building could not have been accommodated on any of the set ups presently located anywhere close to the court.

The entire project, which had several phases, saw supervisory services being provided by a local company.

In talking figures, the first phase of the project addressed the extension, rehabilitation, construction of the magistrates’ walkway, upgrade of the water system, and construction of the public convenience.

The extension had a price tag of just over $56 million, the rehabilitation just over $19 million, and the works on the water system, public convenience and magistrates’ walkway saw a figure of just over $20 million dollars. Those were the initial works that were to be done on the facility.

However, there was the need for additional works, as mentioned before, and those attracted a different price, which does not represent an overrun in cost.

The purchase and installation of AC units had a price tag of $24,721,587. The purchase and procurement of the transformer came up to $6,231,650. The construction of yet another two courtrooms revetment and parking lots cost $22,772,296. There was also the supervisory service that cost approximately $1,568,000.

The benefits to the magistrates of the added works on the building, especially the additional four courtrooms, have now placed the Government in a position in which it no longer has to rent space or buildings around Georgetown to facilitate or accommodate courtrooms, as is presently the case in Middle Street and on Croal Street.

The works have also allowed the Croal Street renovated facility to centralize the operations of the Georgetown magisterial district, since all magisterial matters will be accommodated in the renovated building.