…to deal with aftermath of Camp St riot

THE GOVERNMENT of Guyana on Monday approved the “immediate implementation” of a four-part emergency plan to deal with the aftermath of Sunday’s massive inferno which left the Georgetown Prison completely gutted.

The fire was started by inmates who rioted, and resulted in six persons escaping police custody; one of whom has since been recaptured. On Monday evening, President David Granger in a televised address to the nation said the four-part emergency plan has been activated and includes the construction of temporary structures to house the displaced prisoners in the short terms, the completion of a recovery operation to account for and accommodate every single prisoner, implementation of legal measures to immediately reduce the prison population and, importantly, the immediate recapture of the five inmates, who escaped custody.

The Head-of-State assured that the National Security Council (NSC), after meeting for the second time after the incident occurred, will continue to remain engaged to coordinate and implement immediate measures to ensure that the situation remains stable and secure and that there is a return to normalcy.
The second meeting was held at the Guyana Defence Force’s (GDF) Base Camp Ayanganna.
“The Guyana Defence Force, the Guyana Police Force, the Guyana Prison Service and the Guyana Fire Service are working together to ensure public safety. A manhunt is being executed, air and ground patrols are being conducted and vigilance has been heightened on roadway and at key points,” the Commander-in-Chief said.
Meanwhile, some $18M has been approved by the government to have temporary holding facilities erected for the prisoners, the Ministry of the Presidency said on Monday.
By the end of Monday, approximately 300 inmates were safely relocated to various detention facilities across the country, including the Mazaruni, New Amsterdam and Timehri prisons. The remainder continues to be housed at Lusignan, where temporary facilities have been installed by engineers from the Ministry of Public Infrastructure. Some 1018 prisoners were held at the Georgetown Prison with more than half of that population being on remand.

Tents along with portable toilets have been erected to protect inmates from the elements, while construction begins on three holding shelters, washrooms and reinforced gates.
Six magistrates from different magisterial districts were at the Lusignan Prison to review the records of inmates, who are eligible for release between now and August, for the purposes of early release. They have also examined releasing on their own recognisance, inmates, who have been incarcerated for minor, non-violent offences and reducing bail for those who could not have afforded to post the initial court-ordered sum. On Sunday, Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan said he is mulling several extraordinary measures to reduce the Camp Street Prison population, one of which is an early release of non-violent, well-behaved prisoners.
“It has to do with a lot of prisoners who are serving time, three years for possession. I have the statistics and a lot of them are there for possession of narcotics and trafficking of narcotics and all of that and they have served some time and they are of good behaviour,” he told reporters at a press conference held at the National Communications Network (NCN).

The minister added: “There is what is called a good behaviour, an early release date and a late release date, when you are going to serve [per se] a five-year term… If you are of good behaviour, you can get some remissions from me. I can give you as minister and the authority.”
This move, he said, stemmed from the recently held Commission of Inquiry (COI) into the prisons which recommended that the number of persons within the system on remand be reduced drastically, something that they have been trying to do. “We’ve had some of them who couldn’t pay their bail and who when the bail was granted, they didn’t have cash, so that also accumulated that high amount of persons there, in a prison that was not made for 1, 100 persons,” Ramjattan continued.
The fire at the Camp Street penitentiary occurred one day before the Ministry of Legal Affairs was set to launch a US$8M project funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to tackle overcrowding at prisons across the country. The programme aimed at reducing the number of pre-trial detentions of prisoners, while increasing use of alternative sentencing.

Meanwhile, Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson who also participated in the NSC meeting on Monday disclosed that his ministry in collaboration with the Guyana Fire Service and the Guyana Prison Service will begin removing the debris from the burnt out Camp Street facility with the aim of having restorative works carried out on the brick prison located within the precincts there. Patterson explained that the brick prison received minor damage and can accommodate approximately 250 prisoners.
Notwithstanding the implementation of the emergency plan, President Granger said his government is continuing to implement the major recommendations that were made by of the Commission of Inquiry (COI) into the March 2016 prison riot. One of which includes the expansion of the infrastructure of the Mazaruni Prison. On Sunday, the President had assured that all recommendations made by the COI into the March 2016 riots which resulted in 17 inmates being burnt to death were being implemented. In a televised broadcast, the Head-of-State said “We know what the problems are and we have started to take action on the COI report … the public knows we are building a brand new prison in Mazaruni and effecting repairs to the others. We did take action based on the COI report- to reduce the prison population and enhance and strengthen the existing infrastructure.”
During that address, President Granger said too that the state of the Georgetown Prison has been of major concern for years and alluded to the fact that it was severely overcrowded.

“A number of people are on remand … as many as half of the prison population is on remand. Once again we are taking action along with the magistracy to ensure that prisoners are not remanded for petty offences, stealing cell phones, small amounts of ganga…there are far too many people on remand and the magistracy must act more quickly,” he stated. Additionally, the President expressed condolences to the family and friends of Prison Warden, Odinga Wickham, who was shot multiple times about his body and succumbed on Sunday.
“I mourn the loss of Prison Warden, Odinga Wickham, who was murdered in the execution of his duties and I extend condolences to his family. We will ensure the best medical attention is given to everyone else who received injuries in the riot,” he said. He also thanked the Joint Services for their resolute response to the emergency “under difficult circumstances” to contain the situation and limit the loss of life.