The Supreme Court has created the Mediation Center of Guyana, which can provide another option for resolving disputes. The advertisements also advise that trained and impartial mediators are available to help those involved in disputes that generally go to Court, to reach an acceptable agreement.

The Mediation Center is being sponsored by USAID through the Carter Center and is entirely new to Guyanese.

We are aware that many persons go to Court to settle disputes, some minor and even trivial, while many are land issues that sometimes remain in dispute for years.

Many of the issues, which compel some to go to court, could be settled out of Court, once the two parties are in agreement - and now that there is a special centre established for this purpose.

We are all aware that many people spend money they can ill afford on disputes that they feel justify legal action and we also know that many people suffer extreme stress over these matters, which can drag on for years in our courts.

The new arrangements to help settle court cases, which clog up the judicial system and create endless pain and psychological problems to the contestants, are welcome.

We believe that this innovation is bound to ease congestion in the courts and solve many problems that can be settled out of court by mediation.

Our best wishes to all involved in this new approach and our hope that many litigants will seek recourse for their problems at the Mediation Centre.