When will the Vieux-Fort Magistrates’ Court be relocated to the building which was renovated for it to be housed?
That’s the question residents of Vieux-Fort want the relevant authority to answer.
The building, which is located on Commercial Street, Vieux-Fort, has been opened and later closed several times, since its renovation in 2019. During that period to 2023, it has been opened and later closed three times. It was first closed less than a year after it was renovated. On all three occasions it was closed due to mold infestation.
At the moment, it is housed in a privately- owned building nearby. Prior to it being relocated there, it was housed upstairs the Vieux-Fort Post Office.
Its closure had caused anxiety among the staff of the Magistrates’ Court, who was baffled as to how a building which had just renovated be infested with mold.
Its condition had resulted in several of them suffering from nausea, itchy skin and running nose, and had to seek medical attention, which resulted in them being granted sick leave. On one occasion, they stayed outside the building for several hours, until the intervention of the St Lucia Civil Service Association (CSA) before returning in the building.
“It seems the government has abandoned the building, which recently housed the Vieux-Fort Magistrates’ Court. This opened and closed, opened and closed thing does not make sense,” a resident said on condition of anonymity, adding that it’s only in Vieux-Fort such a problem will be tolerated for so long.
Another said: “We need to be treated better. Vieux-Fort is not a village; it’s a town. It is strange a building which looked so beautiful from the outside, and was just renovated had to be closed less than a year after it was renovated.”
Residents say there seems to be no urgency on the part of the authorities to have the staff of the Magistrates’ court return to the building.
Prior to the building being converted into a courthouse, it housed the Vieux-Fort Police Station for many years.