JPs to take on new roles

Justices of the Peace (JPs) will be expected to take a new role with additional responsibilities in their communities, including resolving disputes.

As 282 people were sworn in as JPs at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre yesterday evening, Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley said they would be provided with additional training.

“You have a responsibility to build out the strength of our communities,” she said in joining Acting Governor General Sir Kenneth Hewitt and Attorney General Dale Marshall in congratulating the new JPs.

“We have a responsibility in the communities in which we live to keep the peace. The ability to keep the community whole is what matters,” Mottley added.

She said what was needed for a 21st century Barbados was “the rebuilding of social capital”.

In this regard, she said it was Government’s position that services such as family courts would be decentralised and rather than a focus on Bridgetown, they would be available in districts.

New JP Kathy Ann Caddle, 38, said: “It is an honour to be chosen as a Justice of Peace. It gives me an opportunity to serve my community better.”

The feeling was similar for 41-year-old Sasha Edwards: “It feels very good at a very young age to be a JP because coming up you always heard that a Justice of Peace was an older person, so it feels very good that you can actually mix in the community and help persons in the community.” (HH)