Frequent power outages will no longer be an issue at the Mulinuu Court House following the commissioning of a brand new 350KVA generator on Thursday this week. 

The Ministry of Justice Courts and Administration (MJCA) was excited to unveil the asset that arrived when the country was going through a power crisis. The new generator cost $324,000 and is funded by the government.

Last week, the court schedule was disrupted due to the power cuts and led to the early adjournments of cases on Friday.

Some lawyers have also told the bench they were unable to file submissions on time because of electricity problems at their residences. 

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for MJCA Papalii John Taimalelagi said the procurement of the generator was timely and will ensure court cases and services provided to the public were not disrupted. 

The project was made possible through local contractor Generator, Controls and Electrical Solutions. The company won the bid to supply, install and construct the shelter for the engine. 

According to Papalii, when the courthouse opened its doors in 2010, it came with a standby generator but its capacity couldn’t power up the whole building. 

In the same year, the generator was damaged and since then the Ministry has been trying to find funding to secure another engine to respond to power outage. 

Their search for financial assistance from donor partners was unsuccessful which meant the government had to step in to take on the costs. 

Papalii spoke about the difficulty in rescheduling court cases and the challenges in staff providing services to the public, having to withstand the humidity inside the building during power cuts. 

With the newly installed generator, the CEO said electricity was one less problem to worry about and ensures cases will be on schedule.