–Prison Service attorney tells CoI

By Svetlana Marshall
PRISON Service Attorney Eusi Anderson said yesterday that a forensic approach is needed to effectively determine the time taken by the Guyana Fire Service, Guyana Police Force and the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) to respond to the Georgetown Prison riot of March 3.

Since commencement of the commission of inquiry (CoI) into the Georgetown Prison riot, members of the Joint Services have provided the commission with various pieces of information with respect to the time taken primarily by the Guyana Fire Service to respond to the fire within the walls of the Camp Street Prison on that fateful day.

Firefighters who would have taken the stand have said the Guyana Fire Service responded to the fire within five to eight minutes. But yesterday, Prison Officer Esther Charles reported that the Fire Service arrived on the scene at 11:26h on March 3, some 22 minutes after they had been informed about the fire at about 11:04h.

Speaking with Guyana Chronicle minutes after the inquiry was adjourned yesterday, Attorney Anderson posited that the various log books and records need to be scrutinised to ascertain whose version is more probable.

“I wouldn’t want to guess what is the cause of the variation in terms of time. I wouldn’t want to guess that at all. But what I would like to know is how is the time varying so significantly from various officers,” he said, adding: “You have to ask yourself, ‘Is it possible that, when the Fire Service arrived, the prison officer who is recording that time was not able to visually see the fire service?’ That is question Number One.”

Anderson, representing the Joint Services, which includes the Guyana Fire Service, reminded that firefighting involves preparatory work, which includes assembling the necessary tools and equipment.

“Is that visible from the Operations Room? I don’t know. Is human error a factor? Absolutely, human error is a factor in nearly everything we do that involves human input,” he said.

Anderson explained that, “unlike those three (Guyana Fire Service, Guyana Police Force and the Guyana Defence Force), the members of the Guyana Prison Service were in the direct line of fire and hostility; they were directly and immediately and personally…involved in the events; so you have to measure their ability to record things, their ability to be accurate in their descriptions against that panic human reaction.”

The Prison Service attorney had offered his take on the time variation based on the testimonies provided by Charles and other officers of the Joint Services.

Charles, who has been attached to the Operations Room of the Georgetown Prison for the past 10 years, explained that Operation Post Two forms part of the Operations Room, which is the “nerve centre” of the prison. From Operation Post Two, officers would normally observe the activities within the prison yard.

While being cross-examined by Anderson, the Prison Officer explained that she was in Operation Post Two when she observed that there was a fire in Capital ‘A’ Division at about 11:00h. Charles said she immediately ran to the front of the Operations Room and informed the relevant officers and officials. The siren, she said, was also sounded, in keeping with the SOPs.

It was pointed out, however, that it would have taken Charles approximately four minutes before she would have arrived at the front of the Operations Room, which is considered to be the communications centre of the prison.

While being cross-examined by the Commission’s counsel, Excellence Dazzell, Charles disclosed the response time with respect to the Fire Service: “We position weself at the window so that we could see when the police arrive, when the Fire Service arrive, when the army arrive, and (we) document it,” the Prison Officer said, after being asked by Counsel Dazzell to justify her information.

Additionally, according to Charles’s records, Deputy Director of Prisons Gladwin Samuels arrived in the Georgetown Prison at 10:55h – approximately five minutes before she observed the fire. Director of Prisons Carl Graham was reportedly at the prison since 8:05h that day.
In addition to Charles, Prison Officers Dekanna Benjamin and Lanon Tucker also testified yesterday.
Benjamin told the commission that, with the exception of a few devices, all the telephone lines and radio sets had been operational on March 3.