By Svetlana Marshall

LESS than a month after 17 prisoners died in a fire set within the walls of the Georgetown Prison, another fire was lit Monday, this time in the Capital C Block.When Guyana Chronicle arrived on the scene at approximately 15:00h, a fire truck was seen leaving the area even as Members of the Tactical Services Unit (TSU) were frequenting the prison.

Attorneys-at-Law Selwyn Pieters and Eusi Anderson, who are currently representing the Guyana Police Force and the Prison Service at the Commission of Inquiry (COI) into the March 3 Camp Street Riot, were also seen entering the prison from the western side.

Approximately one hour later, Pieters told reporters that the fire which started in the Capital Block C was extinguished, and everything was under control.

“It wasn’t an electrical fire, it was a fire deliberately lit by someone who threatened to burn the prison down,” he further told reporters.

However, he declined to disclose the reason behind the fire.
He would only say that the incident is being investigated by the Criminal Investigation Department and charges will be laid once the investigation is completed.

On March 2, prisoners within the Capital A Block of the penitentiary had started to protest the seizure of marijuana and mobile phones. The situation deteriorated the next day while a group of prisoners were being transferred to another section of the prison.

It was reported that during the movement, one prisoner became rowdy and protested against the officer who was supervising the transfer. The others then began to cheer him on and as they were about to enter the holding area where they are usually searched for contraband, the prisoners rushed into a room where they locked an eight-foot high steel door and barricaded themselves inside with metal beds.

One of the prisoners then lit a mattress as part of the protest and the Fire Service was summoned but the fire quickly got out of control and the prisoners then attempted to free themselves from the room they had commandeered.

The Standard Operating Procedures were reportedly employed and attempts were made to blow torch the door open, but by the time authorities had completed that exercise, they found multiple lifeless and charred remains of the prisoners.

The Government has since launched a Commission of Inquiry (COI) into the riot with former Justice James Patterson chairing the proceedings with Merle Mendonca of the Guyana Human Rights Association and former Director of Prisons Dale Erskine as sitting Commissioners.

Since the commencement of the COI, it has been discovered that prisoners not only have cell phones but active Facebook accounts. Pieters, who had alluded to this fact during the inquiry, told reporters on Monday that a strategic plan must be put in place due to the fact that the prison is over crowded with close to a thousand prisoners.

“…you have to have the manpower to dominate that prison, so it has to be something that is certainly strategic; it has to be something that is well planned.

“Notwithstanding the fact that prisoners have cell phones, you want to ensure that lives aren’t lost and people aren’t injured but that the illegal contraband that they have that pose a risk to their safety and others are removed.”

Human Rights Activist Father Malcolm Rodrigues had also visited the area upon hearing of the fire on Monday.