Following a January 6, 2015 report in Stabroek News, the Ministry of Home Affairs says that since 2013 over 700 people have been served by its Houses of Justice where a number of public services are offered.
The Stabroek News report had said that the Houses of Justice (HoJ) on the West Demerara were devoid of members of the public when visited by the newspaper. The HoJ are supposed to feature representatives of the General Register Office, the National Insurance Scheme, the Guyana Power and Light, the Guyana Police Force, the Ministry of Human Services,the community policing group and more recently the Guyana Water Incorporated.
This newspaper had reported that five centres in Region Three had been set up at the Neighbourhood Democratic Council offices at Parika, and Vergenoegen, East Bank Essequibo and at Pouderoyen, Canal # 1 Polder and Patentia, West Bank Demerara.
The Ministry’s release noted that “all the Houses of Justice are not located at NDCs; in fact only the Parika, Klien Pouderoyen and Patentia HOJs are housed at NDCs, Canal Number 1 Health Centre and Zeelugt Primary School are the other two venues.”
The ministry said too that it has “established that the author(s) of this article is misinformed and ponders with great concern the intentions of the Stabroek News to tarnish an initiative that is aimed at bringing great relief to residents of Regions 2 and 3 and by extension the Guyanese people.”
The SN reporter who visited the sites however maintains that checks at the HoJ showed that many persons were not aware of them and there were no visitors.
The reporter had gone to Zeelugt initially to try to locate the venue but residents there said they had never heard of the HoJ and directed this newspaper to the NDC office at Vergenoegen instead which is how Stabroek News inadvertently mentioned Vergenoegen.
Each of the five HoJs functions between 4 pm to 6 pm, one day per week. The schedule which had been carried in the Mirror newspaper said that the HoJ was convened at the Parika NDC every Monday, the Zeelugt Primary every Tuesday, the Best Klien NDC every Wednesday, the Canal Number 1 Health Centre every Thursday and the Toevlugt Patentia NDC every Friday.
According to the release, the ministry would like to assure residents that the HoJ in the two regions are “alive and running and… committed to serving residents of those two regions to ensure that persons have access to services they require.
The release said too that it should be highlighted, that in an effort to enhance awareness of the locations and services offered by the Houses of Justice and promote utilization of the services offered and as part of the advertising campaign numerous adverts were published via the print and electronic media, flyers, brochures, etc with the most recent publication being on December 21, 2014 in the Guyana Chronicle.
The ministry said it will not shy away from its responsibility of providing social justice to residents.
