– President Granger

By Svetlana Marshall
THERE needs to be a massive redeployment of prisoners from the Georgetown Prison to the Mazaruni Penal Settlement, President David Granger said in the light of the March 3 prison riot which claimed the lives of 17 prisoners on March 3.It is no secret that the Georgetown Prison is overcrowded. In fact, the penitentiary which sits in the heart of the capital city has approximately 1, 000 prisoners, almost double the amount it was designed to cater for.
Speaking during his weekly “Public Interest” TV Programme, President Granger said the problems facing the Prison Service is chronic, alluding to the fact that in 1997 there was a massive riot at the Mazaruni Penal Settlement in which several buildings were burnt. Additionally, though there were several escapes in the past, the infamous Mashramani Day escape of 2002, when five prisoners shot a female prison officer and stabbed a male prison officer dead on their way out of the Georgetown jail, and the recent riots are thus far the worst in the country’s history.
Built more than 125 years ago, President Granger said the three main prisons in Guyana – New Amsterdam, Georgetown and Mazaruni – are inadequate for the number of prisoners, in particular the Camp Street Prison.
“Now the problems will not be resolved unless there is a massive redeployment of prisoners from Georgetown…to Mazaruni. Mazaruni has the space…[but] it needs to be reinforced and fortified,” the President said.
Since the riot, a number of prisoners have been transferred from the Georgetown Prison and it is expected that more prisoners will be transferred in the coming weeks. However, the President emphasised the need for the Mazaruni Prison to be extended. He said new blocks will be built but “money has to be provided.”
The situation is further compounded by the shortage of prison officers, the President added, noting that there is need to increase the staff complement and provide enhanced training.
Since the riot, prisoners have increasingly voiced their concerns over the length of time they are on remand. Alluding to this issue, President Granger pointed out that the Executive branch has engaged the judiciary in an effort to reduce the build-up of cases.
Just recently, the Government has given “favourable assurances” for the proposed establishment of night courts. Night courts have been proposed to expedite the backlog of cases which have resulted in several persons being held on remand, thereby overcrowding the prisons. A growing number of persons have, for several years, been held on remand awaiting trial, some for more than five years. On March 16, the Prime Minister led a Government team to a meeting to discuss the backlog of court cases with a team from the Judiciary, headed by Chancellor Carl Singh.
Meanwhile, when questioned by the Guyana Chronicle about the state of affairs at the Georgetown Prison, President Granger said the situation is approaching normalcy. “The situation is approaching normalcy and approaching stability,” he said.
The Joint Services took control of the penitentiary recently after 13 prison officers reported sick. President David Granger had also instructed that the outer cordons of the prison be extended to include D’urban, John and Bent Streets, which are currently blocked off to the public except for those persons residing within those areas, as is done on Camp Street. This, according to the President, was done to prevent individuals from throwing contraband over the prison walls.
While the situation may not have returned to normalcy, Director of Prisons Carl Graham has recently given the assurance that security at the prison is under control, even as he refuted claims that the prisoners have taken control of the penitentiary. However, he admitted that inmates were more agitated than usual, but he assured that they have not taken control.