— residents recall their experiences of the prison riot

By Jasmaine Payne

A WALK through the surrounding area of the Camp Street Prison just hours after the prisoners had calmed, revealed the characteristics of a ghost town. Homes were tightly locked, offices and businesses closed, and silent streets with barely a person in sight, except the occasional resident hastening along. Members of the armed forces stood guarding the barricades at Hadfield, John, George and Norton Streets, while curious onlookers pushed against the steel barriers trying to get a glimpse of the happenings from beyond. In the very centre of the barricaded area, lay the century-old establishment, scorched on one end by the previous day’s tragedy, and crowded at another by a mob of anxious family members hoping to see a relative.

Talk of what had happened was still fresh on the lips of others who had gathered on outlying corners and shops. Some were outraged; some were anxious to express their own theories and opinions; others became suddenly silent at the sight of approaching members of the media. There was a seeming tenseness all around, as a mixture of sympathy for the deceased and their relatives coupled with the haunting memory of the prison’s previous woes mixed in with the settling dust of the riot.
THE RESIDENTS
Valsine Fordyce has lived on Durban Street for more than 11 years. Her residence directly faces the building where the fire started, so she was able to observe as the events unfolded the day before.
“I was right here in my bedroom when I hear it yesterday morning. Me and me son was gaffing so I said I smelling something burning,” she said.
After checking to make sure that her own home was not the source of the fire, she was alerted by her grandson that it was the prison that had been set ablaze. “So I get up and I see it was fire at the jail and the fire reel take long to come and I start to holler out “fire!” The night before they put out the fire quick, but yesterday it tek a long time to come,” she said. She recalled the sight of the bodies being transported from the building, referring to it as “sad.”
“From my nephew bedroom we could see them bring out the bodies from the back gate, they went dumping them on the landing and I see how they burn up; they hand leave up in the air and so. I say “God what is this!’” she said.
The woman said that she and her family were then affected by the use of tear gas to control the prisoners the following morning.
“I had to run out with these children and wet their face and we had to run till to Norton Street. I think they should have evacuated people, because I was hollering and telling them that we have children upstairs here, they can’t just got the whole area with tear gas; they didn’t tell nobody,” she said.
HOLLERING
Above all however, Fordyce admits that she feels for those whose lives were lost, adding that despite their deeds, they did not deserve their fiery demise. “Not everybody is perfect, and they did their crime but look how they end up with a fiery death. There was a lot of hollering. I cried; I feel for them,” she said.
Just next door lives Theresa Charles, who was unable to go to work after being affected by the tear gas.
“And when they start spraying up all the tear gas and it started to burn up my face, I decided not to go to work, and plus they block off the streets and so,” Charles said. She said that the situation was “really terrible,” especially because of the lives lost.
Meanwhile, another resident felt that the presence from influential bodies would have helped to calm the situation, adding that she understood their frustration about the conditions as she has a relative in there as well.
“I think if the President had come out, these boys would have kept their head and felt like if they would get some change. I don’t feel nice about it…” she said. The woman – who preferred to go unnamed, said that she is most concerned about the well-being of the prisoners and hopes that the prison officers are made to answer for the tragedy.
THE WORKERS
While those who lived in the area had no choice in being among the commotion, many businesses chose to stay closed or send their workers home. Yet, there were some persons who couldn’t afford to do either for different reasons.
Roger Phillips, who for the past 16 years has managed a nearby establishment, said that it was a matter of duty that he kept his shop open as he usually supplied the Camp Street Prison with water and other beverages.
Nevertheless, he still sent some of his staff home as a matter of security, so as to ensure that he did not have more staff than he could handle should things get worse.

“My first thoughts were that I hope it’s not a repeat of the Mash Day jail break… but it’s very unsettling when you have workers, because its touch and go if to stay open or to close, but because of the prevailing circumstances in the country we went with the decision to stay open,” he said.
Since the facts surrounding the event are still not very clear, Phillips preferred not to give an opinion as to how he felt about the matter. “Being here for a while there are routine searches,” he said, “but yesterday morning the scene unfolded when we saw a rush of more security and then this morning we heard the ruckus and we felt they were breaking away the jail or something. We heard the shouting and the screams from people who maybe had family in there. That was the part that made me say let me send some of my staff away.”
A worker from a restaurant nearby said that the staff there was affected by the use of tear gas as well and called the effects of it “annoying and disgusting.” Moreover, she believed that the use of tear gas also irritated the prisoners. “They [prison officers] are supposed to show the prisoners a little love and let them feel good today, because yesterday they saw their colleagues burn,” she said.
While some people were being sent home from work, it was James Walton’s place to stay behind and guard a nearby hotel as a security officer. But, having spent some time in the prison himself, he felt no fear as the events unfolded.
“But I feel they should do better in the prison, because once you’re forming gangs in jail, it’s problems, because when the authority now come, the gangs them will rebel,” he said. Walton opined that if the gangs are in existence for a while and authorities try to stop them at the last moment, it would be too late, which is why the situation could have escalated.
“I feel bad for the families, because I say this thing hay suh, it ain’t done. It will keep going on and on,” he said. He suggested that the cases of prisoners on remand should be dealt with quickly so as to aid in dealing with the overcrowding at the Camp Street Prison.