By Shauna Jemmott

AS THE Commission of Inquiry into the Camp Street Prison riots comes to an end, lawyer for the Georgetown Prison Service, Selwyn Pieters, has called for a new prison to be built.Making final submissions before the CoI at the Ministry of the Presidency’s Public Service Department on Waterloo Street, Georgetown, Pieters said evidence shows that the Georgetown Prison is characterized by overcrowding and local gangs, and the wooden structure poses a threat to the safety and security of prisoners even as it is a haven for concealing contraband items.

Pieters said Government needs to invest financially in constructing a brick prison, and should also consider that the main prison is housed in the country’s capital city, which is also the country’s business capital.

“A new prison must be built, and proper equipment must be there for officers,” Pieters said. He added that though “Government may not want to hear that they need to pump money into the prisons, it is appropriate that the Government (should) pump money into the system and build a big prison.”

Pieters said Officer-in-Charge of the Georgetown Prisons, Kevin Pilgrim, had pointed out in his testimony that wooden buildings can be dangerous.

“Wood buildings at the Georgetown prisons…have their place, and their place now is ‘historic relics’; those are not places to house prisoners,” Pieters told the commission.

He pointed out that Superintendent Pilgrim, in his testimony, had said the old wooden structures make it easy for inmates to hide contraband, and poses challenges for officers assigned to the living units.

The evidence of the Director of Prisons, Carl Graham, had stated that the brick prison within the Camp Street compound was nowhere near completion, even though construction had started before the elaborate controversial Marriott Hotel, the construction of which has been completed.

Pieters said he had visited the Mazaruni Prisons and was appalled at the conditions under which inmates live. He said, too, that prison officers are often faced with multiple challenges, including inadequate staff to manage the 1,014 inmates housed at the Georgetown Prisons; the high number of high-profile inmates; many prisoners being denied bail; the location of the prison in the capital city; and inadequate staff-to-inmate ratio.

The Joint Services attorney was the only one to make submissions at the conclusion of the hearings.

The Commission is expected to hand over the report to the Government on or before May 31, 2016.