Maximum security prison needed –says President Granger

By Fareeza Haniff

PRESIDENT David Granger has noted Guyana’s need for a maximum security prison. This follows three days of rioting inside the country’s main prison, the Georgetown Prisons, which has left 17 persons dead and others injured.“What we’re contemplating is ensuring there is a correctional facility which can guarantee the security of high-risk prisoners without allowing the outbreak of the type of violence we’ve seen,” the Head of State said during his weekly programme, The Public Interest.

President David Granger
President David Granger

Initial reports suggest that high-risk prisoners encouraged others to participate in the protests, which saw them on Wednesday night setting nine fires using mattresses and lighters smuggled into the prison.

“Some persons might have to be put in a maximum security prison. All prisons are not the same,” the President stated. He noted that there are two low security prisons — at Lusignan and Timehri, with the main prison being the one at Camp Street, where the riots erupted, and others at Mazaruni and in New Amsterdam, Berbice.

“We obviously now have to move to a maximum security prison, because what seems to have happened is that maximum security prisoners are contaminating the atmosphere in the prison system, and might be instigating non-violent prisoners to do violent things or to perpetuate a present crisis,” the President said.

He said the New Amsterdam, Georgetown and Mazaruni prisons were constructed over a century ago, thus the need to improve the physical infrastructure of these facilities.

“We have to have a maximum security prison, and it is the responsibility of the State, I can’t run from that responsibility. So the State will have to consider what has happened, and put something in place to ensure there is no recurrence. The physical infrastructure has to be improved,” the President emphasised.

He acknowledged that prisons in Guyana are not modern and are overcrowded, especially the Georgetown and New Amsterdam prisons. In this regard, the President mentioned the delays in the criminal justice system which, he noted, prevents cases from being heard quickly.

The Georgetown Prison was built to accommodate 600 persons, but currently houses almost 1,000. “It is a congested situation,” he said.

The President also acknowledged that persons on remand for prolonged periods would become frustrated.
“So it is not a prison problem alone; it’s the entire justice system. We’ve got to make sure that the cases are heard, we’ve got to make sure there is proper staffing at the Guyana Prison Service, and we’ve got to make sure that the facilities improve. So there is no short-term fix, but we are going to work in the middle term to make sure that those three major issues are rectified,” the Head of State noted.

SHORTAGE OF PRISON OFFICERS
President Granger is concerned about the quality of prison officers in the system. He admitted that there “may be a few corrupt officers… I cannot judge.”

During a raid at the Camp Street Prison on Wednesday, a total of 19 cellphones along with a quantity of marijuana were discovered in cells. Superintendent of Prisons Kevin Pilgrim has admitted that some prison officers may be corrupt, and help to smuggle illicit items in.

The President said the quality of training, together with improved remuneration for prison officers, will have to be reviewed. “…it is quite evident that persons were able to slip cell phones and other contraband items into the cells. How could they set the mattresses on fire? They had to have some matches. In fact, it is because of the attempt of prison officials to remove contraband items that the disturbance might have broken out in the first place,” President Granger said.

He added: “It is quite clear that the contraband items, which have found their way in such large quantities into the cells, had to be done either due to the laxity or the inefficiency of the prison service, or with the complicity of members of the prison service.

“So the human element is very important, and we are paying attention to that. So we have to recruit honest, hardworking prison officers in sufficient numbers if we are to get on top of this problem,” the President said.

He revealed that there is a major shortage of officers at the Mazaruni Prison, a situation which the Government has to rectify before any thought is given to possibly transferring prisoners there to ease the overcrowding at Camp Street.

“There is a shortage of prison officers; it is not a very attractive profession, and we are working out means of having persons perhaps serve a little longer, so that there is not a rapid turnover of staff.

“So we have to solve that situation there, and we have to ensure that the physical infrastructure at Mazaruni conforms with the requirements of a maximum security prison.”

He said the pressure on the Georgetown Prison is too great, and has become unsustainable.

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