– at Guyana Prison Service
THE Guyana Prison Service will now benefit from the services of the Sentence Management Board and an Agricultural Development Board that will aid in the proper administration of the various functions of five prison locations (New Amsterdam, Timehri, Lusignan, Georgetown, and Mazaruni) in Guyana. SENTENCE MANAGEMENT BOARD
Home Affairs Minister, Clement Rohee, at a news briefing last Friday, explained that the Sentence Management Board will see the establishment of a database documenting each prisoner along with the skill that he/she possesses, level of academic qualifications, and other peculiarities. This information, he said, is very vital for his ministry as an administrative body.
“There are some prisoners who would be desirous of sitting an examination; through this board, we could know how many prisoners have the necessary qualifications to undertake further studies while serving their sentence,” Minister Rohee highlighted.
He said this initiative will be especially beneficial to convicted prisoners. “It will be a little difficult for those on remand as their situation is more transient. However, they are provided with anger management courses and other forms of counselling while they are pending trial,” the minister explained.
This Board will also provide recommendations with regard to how prisoners should be managed in keeping with the laws.
Section 57, Ch. 50:01 of the Prisons Act states that, “the Minister may make rules generally for the good management and governance of the prisons and prisoners and for carrying out the objectives of this Act and without prejudice to the generality of such powers may make rules in relation to, inter alia, employment, classification, safe custody, separation, treatment and discipline of prisoners.”
Each prison has representatives who sit on the Board, which is chaired by Captain Gerald Gouveia. Other members include Director of Prisons, Dale Erskine, Rev. Faye Clarke, who is also in charge of welfare and corrections, Member of the Parole Board, Sylvia Conway, Member of the Lusignan Prison Visiting Committee, Ayube Mohammed, Representative from the Human Services Ministry, Forbes Munroe, Leon Davis from Food For The Poor, and two representatives from the Home Affairs Ministry.
AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT BOARD
The Agricultural Development Board seeks to make the prisons more self- sufficient; it focuses primarily on the Mazaruni, New Amsterdam and Lusignan prisons, where food production is higher and more concentrated than the other two locations.
The potential for agri-development within the prison system is tremendous and its achievement will make the GPS more self- reliant.  Prisoners at these locations are engaged in livestock rearing, cash crops cultivation, and aquaculture.
This Board comprises several members including Walter Matadyal, Deputy Director of Prisons, Lt. Col Malcolm Mc Andrew, representatives from the Agriculture Ministry, Food For The Poor and the New Guyana Marketing Corporation (New GMC), along with the officers in charge from the various prison locations. It is chaired by Beni Sankar.