Twenty communities across five regions have signed on with the Local Government and Regional Development Ministry to set up safe houses and houses of justice to further social cohesion and tackle social illnesses.
Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee
The initiative, launched last week at the Pegasus Hotel, is part of the United Nations Community Development Programme (CDP) and government’s Enhanced Public Trust, Security and Inclusion (EPTSI) project. EPTSI’s main focus is youth empowerment and promoting social cohesion.
The community development will see the creation of safe houses and “houses of justice,” which will be housed in one building. The community, through funding from the government, will develop and execute micro economic and social projects.
The safe houses and houses of justice will be located in Regions Three, Four, Five, Six and Ten.
According to Marlon Fraser, a member of the safe house which was set up in Hopetown, in Region Five, the social ills that exist in the community are illiteracy and alcohol abuse, among others.
Hopetown’s CDP plans to tackle those issues, Fraser stated. Noting that illiteracy is a really challenging issue in the community, Fraser hopes to raise the level of literacy among youth and women.
Permanent Secretary of the Local Government Ministry, Nigel Dharamlall, said that the aim of the safe houses is to foster cultural diversity and cohesion in communities across the country.
Meanwhile, the houses of justice are expected to give persons a chance to air their grievances and get satisfactory responses.
Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee pointed out that houses of justice are not like the court system.
Rohee said that many persons who say they are looking for justice “are seeking to be heard, to be listened to, and for their responses to be acted upon and to be personally satisfied”. Houses of justice are expected to provide a “new and innovative” form of justice for all, Rohee added. Sitting in the houses of justice are various representatives of the various partner ministries, Rohee said. “Houses of justice are expected to cater for the deficiencies, defects and shortcomings that exist in the system,” Rohee noted.
He assured that the persons sitting in the houses of justice are there to serve, and that the facility will not become “another round in bureaucracy.”
