Plans in place to revive stalled Justice Park project
The building consists of 19 offices and 16 courts with three components – the admin section, main court complex and prisoners' quarters.
Construction on the Port Shepstone Justice Park has ground to a halt but last week, the Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development (DOJ&CD), John Jeffery and Deputy Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI), Noxolo Kiviet visited the site to assess the new court.
At a cost of more than R285-million, construction on the building started in 2014 and was originally scheduled for completion in 2016. However, financial constraints on the part of the appointed contractor had reportedly forced the project to stall.
The building consists of 19 offices and 16 courts with three components – the admin section, main court complex and prisoners’ quarters. There is also parking for 255 vehicles, for use by both staff and visitors.
Subsequent to the visit to the new court in Andreasen Street, the deputy ministers stopped off at the current court in Port Shepstone where a number of resolutions were taken to repair roof leaks, air conditioning and to re-paint.
“Significant delays in the construction of the new court were experienced when the original contractor, Basil Read was placed under voluntary business rescue in 2018. The contract was considered as being cancelled by the DPWI,” said Steve Mahlangu Deputy Director: Media Research and Liaison DOJ&CD.
“Numerous attempts were made by the DPWI to find an amicable solution for the project to be completed. Those efforts were, however, unsuccessful as the contractor’s interest was salvaging financial resources to rescue Basil Read. This unfortunately led to an unavoidable dispute which is currently in an ongoing litigation process,” he said.
The two deputy ministers, accompanied by senior officials from their respective departments also held a meeting to discuss further plans for the completion of the new court as well as interim solutions for accommodation and facilities issues at the current court.
“We are extremely concerned about the condition of the new court and the equipment that has already been installed. The community expects a complete and well-functioning court so that service delivery can take place,” said Deputy Minister Jeffery.
He added it was becoming difficult to manage the expectations of stakeholders and members of the public who had already staged demonstrations at the current court.
A number of plans were also put in place to mitigate possible further delays in the completion of the court. The DPWI has embarked on a process to procure a service provider to complete the remaining work.
“Our department is committed to ensuring the speedy finalisation of this project, so that proper service delivery can take place in Port Shepstone,” said Deputy Minister Kiviet.
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