Chuck: It has cost me millions to be in politics

Delroy Chuck left his lucrative law practice 25 years ago to enter representational politics.

Before then, he had done a fair amount of legal work as well as lecturing at The University of the West Indies for 20 years.

But in 1997, he was elected to Gordon House at the age of 47 to represent St Andrew North Eastern.

In an interview with The Sunday Gleaner last week, Chuck said it is a decision over which he has no regrets.

“I entered politics because I felt that Jamaica needed persons who can stand up for what is right, stand up to fight against the wrongs in society,” said the parliamentarian, who is also the country’s justice minister, having previously held the post for a short stint between 2011 and 2012. “I came into politics, not for any personal benefits, but to see what contributions I could make and what I could do to improve the lives of as many citizens as I possibly can.”

Reflecting on his silver anniversary in politics, Chuck said: “At the time, I pondered, ‘Should I continue in the legal profession and become a judge?’ Quite a few judges were asking why I did not join the Bench because I participated in several judges’ seminars. But I thought politics offered the opportunity where I could improve the quality of life for many Jamaicans.”

His time in politics has not all been rosy, Chuck, who also served as Speaker of the House between 2007 and 2011, admitted.

“It has been very costly, not only in terms of time and resources, but in many ways, you suffer a lot of abuse, because people think you are in politics for personal gain.”

He added: “It has cost me many, many tens of millions of dollars to be in politics, but I enjoy serving the people. I have a good relationship with members of both political parties. In all sincerity, in my 25 years in politics, I don’t regret them and whatever time I have remaining in politics, I will continue to enjoy serving the people and doing as best as I can to uplift them.”

RESOLVING CONFLICTS

Chuck said a lot has been achieved during his tenure as justice minister, but much more needs to be done.

Violent crimes, in particular murders, continue to plague the nation because people resort to violence to resolve conflicts.

Although the Government has put in place justice centres with trained facilitators in every parish to assist citizens with settling their disputes in an amicable way, they are mainly underutilised. He is hoping to change that.

Speaking with The Sunday Gleaner last week, he made an impassioned plea for persons to make use of the justice centres so that they do not become victims of violent crimes or face criminal charges.

To this end, he is also looking at bringing on board the churches to assist in reaching out to the communities to push the restorative justice programme. School administrators, teachers and parents are also being brought on board and engaged in restorative justice training to drive a change in culture.

“The aim is to get the message into every nook and cranny of the island. I just don’t want to hear this school year of any student being hurt or killed at school or getting in fights with teachers,” Chuck stressed.

“We have improved the image of the justice of the peace (JP) and have increased the number of JPs by several thousand. Working with the chief justice and the court, we are trying to reduce the backlog in all the courts,” he added, noting that the case backlog in the parish courts has been significantly reduced.

“But the area we have not done as well in and are now working on is to provide alternate justice services so that persons across Jamaica can get immediate assistance not only for victim services, but also when they have disputes and conflicts; they can go to the justice centres to get assistance in resolving them.”

Chuck added, “One area which we have tried to work hard on but with great difficulty is to improve the facilities in the courts. Much has been achieved, but so much more needs to be done.”

The minister said the Government wants all the courthouses to be attractive, clean and reflect a first-class system, with all cases completed within two to three years.

NEW SUPREME COURT

“Going forward, we want to build a new Supreme Court right beside the present one that we have in downtown Kingston, and that is being arranged. In addition, we plan to build five additional parish courts in Manchester, St James, Trelawny, St Ann and St Catherine. My great hope is that these five parish courts, plus the new Supreme Court, will be built over the next five years,” Chuck said.

For the new Supreme Court, which is proposed to be an eight- or 10-storey building, the old attorney general’s building on Barry Street is being looked at.

“A new Supreme Court, which will be a private-public partnership, is needed because the facilities in the old building are really falling apart and it would cost an enormous amount of money for refurnishing, but the old building could still be utilised for criminal courts,” Chuck stated.

He explained that space is also needed to accommodate the Court Administration Division (CAD), which is operating from New Kingston. The CAD serves the judges and the courts, hence it should be part of the Supreme Court along with other managerial offices.

Mediation and arbitration will also be critical to reducing the backlog of cases, he said, adding that “such matters will be conducted at the Supreme Court when the building is completed”.

“These will be matters that don’t need a trial and I am hoping they can be completed within weeks or months rather than years. So we need an efficient system and will be working closely with the courts to ensure that every Jamaican has easy access not only to information but to the timely delivery of justice.”

He added, “My great hope is that working with my colleague ministers, this Government can work very hard to improve the quality of life of all Jamaicans, and we will be working across all the parishes not only with the JPs but with all the custodes to achieve this. Access to justice is a very important part of the improvement for a better Jamaica. We also want Jamaicans to have access to more job opportunities.

“I will continue to do my part and work with my colleagues to grow Jamaica and make it a better place,” he told The Sunday Gleaner.

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