Keen but amicable rivalry is expected between prison officers and inmates at all locations of the Guyana Prison Service (GPS), as the two parties compete against each other in activities to observe Prison Service Week from tomorrow, September 26, to October 2. Church services at the main penitentiary at Camp Street, Georgetown, as well as at the Lusignan, Mazaruni and  Timehri prisons tomorrow will be curtain raisers for the week of celebrations.
An Art and Craft Exhibition showcasing the talents of officers and inmates will commence tomorrow as well, in the Prison Officers’ Sports Club, Camp Street. It will conclude on Wednesday.
Other signature events include a prisoners’ concert involving Georgetown inmates  tomorrow at the prison recreational area; schools’ outreach by exemplary officers as a crime prevention strategy from Monday to Friday at Secondary schools in the City, Mazaruni and New Amsterdam; medical outreach for staff and relatives at all locations; the finals of the inmates debating competition involving all locations on October 1, at the Georgetown Prisons; Family Day-Reintegration in the Prison Recreational area from September 27 to October 1, but only for selected prisoners; a boxing clinic and exhibition at the Georgetown Prisons on Tuesday; a luncheon and appreciation ceremony for collaborators at Regency Suites, Hadfield Street on October 29; a march by Officers on October 2,with Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee taking the salute outside the Ministry of Home Affairs headquarters, Brickdam on October 2;  and an anniversary dance at the Prison Officers’ Sports  Club, also on October 2.
The staging of the popular `Prison in Concert’ will take place at Theatre Guild, Kingston, on October 24, the only date available at the venue to host the event.
Barbering is one of the life’s skills that interested inmates can learn during incarceration to enable them to earn a living when integrated back into society.
And on Thursday, September 30, those involved in the trade will show off their skills during a barbering competition to be held in the Georgetown Prison Chapel.
Meanwhile, as a form of community exercise, inmates of the Lusignan Prisons will on September 28 weed and clean the Lusignan Primary School compound on the East Coast of Demerara, and on the same day, both officers and inmates of the New Amsterdam Prisons will undertake work at Tutorial Academy located in the community.
On the same day, officers and inmates at the Timehri Prisons will do work at the Doppler Radar Tower; and on October 2, they will host 50 children in the community, 14 and under, to a ‘Back to School’ in the Sports Club on the location.
Officers and inmates at the Mazaruni Prisons will do their community work at the nearby Transport and Harbours Stelling on September 29, and will also hold an exhibition and sale at the same venue on Saturday October 2.