The Home Affairs Ministry on Wednesday officially launched the Houses of Justice project at the West Demerara Secondary School, Region Three. This is the first of 10 such bodies that will be established across Regions Two and Three.
Houses of Justice are multi-agency service centers that will be established in communities and will be geared to address pressing social needs of citizens at the community level; thereby improving access to public service.
It brings together, in its initial stage, six agencies that will be providing vital public services to citizens at the community level; offering much more convenient setting and eliminating the usual hassles people face in acquiring such services.
These agencies are the Guyana Police Force (GPF), General Register Office (GRO), National Insurance Scheme (NIS), Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Inc., the Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security and the Community Policing Secretariat.
Minister of Home Affairs, Clement Rohee in his remarks said that this initiative is the first of its kind that has “tremendous social relevance”. He explained that citizens usually clamour for these basic services, which are now being taken to them.
Too often, people are forced to travel back and forth to the city to access services and are sometimes even fleeced by certain individuals who are in positions of authority. This project is aimed at eliminating the everyday frustration in dealing with matters such as registration of births, deaths, and marriages; electricity bills, pension and NIS benefits, and even advisory services from the police and community policing bodies.
Minister Rohee noted that while residents may require a wider range of services than that which will be offered at the Houses of Justice, this must be seen as the first step in the right direction. He said that when the efficacy of this initiative is demonstrated in this pilot stage, it will be expanded to accommodate more stakeholders.
On September 2, the Home Affairs Ministry signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the six agencies for the implementation of the Houses of Justice project.
Minister Rohee emphasised the need to ensure sustainability of this project and called on all stakeholders to be tolerant, punctual and understanding so as to make this new initiative work to the benefit of all involved.
He reminded that the Houses of Justice do not associate with judges, magistrates and lawyers; but rather easier access to basic public services/advice to which citizens are entitled.
Meanwhile, Regional Chairman, Region Three, Julius Faerber expressed his appreciation to the Government for taking this project to the region. He noted that the Houses of Justice will go a far in dealing with a lot of household problems.
Faerber also stated that the RDC will be working closely with the various agencies to ensure the sustainability of the project.
On September 14, the Houses of Justice project will be launched in Region Two. These will be located at Charity, Dartmouth, Suddie, Aurora, and Kabakaburi.
