Denise Clarke, Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU:
Verbal clashes between the Westmoreland Parish Council and the Savanna-la-Mar Resident Magistrate's Court has forced the Parish Council to seek an alternate venue for its monthly meetings.
The Parish Council has decided to relinquish use of the Assembly Hall at the Savanna-la-Mar court house, and is hastily seeking to rent space in time for its regular monthly meeting scheduled for this Thursday.
The disputes arose because the two courtrooms are located on either side of the Assembly Hall. At almost every monthly meeting, court officials accuse the Parish Council of disturbing court proceedings and several times have threatened to have councillors arrested.
"The court is making noise, we are making noise and they are telling us to keep quiet, it is too confusing," Savanna-la-Mar Mayor, Councillor Ralph Anglin, said last week.
Five councillors walked out of the monthly meeting last October after a police sergeant, who was on duty at the court, threatened to evict those attending the meeting for disturbing court proceedings.
Mayor Anglin said the problems started some years ago, when the Parish Council entered an agreement with the court to divide the Assembly Hall to accommodate a second courtroom.
Confusion usually dominates the Parish Council's meeting days on the second Thursday of each month, as the Assembly Hall is situated between the two courtrooms, with only a partial screen separating the meeting from the second court. In meetings attended by The Sunday Gleaner, the councillors shout above the noise coming from the court and are often reprimanded by court officials.
The dispute was brought to the attention of the attorney-general, who ruled that the court has the first preference for use of the building, although neither party owns it.
"The ruling said we could make arrangement with the court to co-exist, and use the building when they are not using it or make arrangement to use it at certain times," the mayor said.
The Parish Council hopes to complete negotiations with Union Bank to rent space at its building in Savanna-la-Mar before Thursday's monthly meeting. Meanwhile, the Parish Council and the Ministry of Local Government are involved in discussions for construction of a new building as a long-term solution. Mayor Anglin said lands have already been earmarked at Dunbars River in the parish, and the plans for the new building are being drafted.
