Termites devouring official documents at the High Court Registry (+Video)

Termites feasting on official documents at the High Court Registry should be a concern not only to the legal fraternity but to all Vincentians.

This is the firm view of a lawyer, familiar with the condition at the Registry, who spoke to SEARCHLIGHT anonymously this week. The senior counsel highlighted claims about the conditions there, and voiced concerns about alleged inactivity in addressing it.

Photos and videos obtained by SEARCHLIGHT, which show books at the Registry, which is located on Halifax Street, Kingstown, tell a dismal story of an infestation so chronic that groups of the insects can be seen crawling unbothered over the documents.

“The (uptown) Registry holds priceless and irreplaceable records of deeds and cause books. The systematic destruction of same by termites is deeply worrying not just to the legal fraternity but should concern all Vincentians. Very old records, held in Liber volumes, are routinely left out of the vault and have been damaged not only by termites but also by leaks,” the lawyer commented.

This problem has been an ongoing one for years now, it is claimed, but it has become critical since the start of 2020.

“There does not appear to be any urgency in dealing with these problems on the part of Registry officials as these issues have been obvious for more than two years,” the attorney contended.

Such a problem which endangers ledgers, books, paper documents, deeds, mortgages, is of utmost concern, as these are “priceless” and cannot be replaced, the source further commented.

Hundreds of termites crawling inside an already destroyed book

SEARCHLIGHT made efforts to contact the Registrar, Andrea Young, and the Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves, who is also Minister for Legal Affairs, but our attempts were unsuccessful.