A CUTLASS, believed to be owned by an inmate, was found on the north eastern side of the fence at the Lusignan prison, East Coast Demerara (ECD) on Saturday.
The Guyana Police Force (GPF) has been called in to conduct an investigation, said Director of Prisons, Gladwin Samuels.

According to Samuels, the item was seen in the possession of a prisoner who was disarmed by a fellow inmate.
Officers suspect that the cutlass was thrown out of the holding bay. Samuels said more details will be provided when available.
Last week it was reported that several illicit items were unearthed after a search of the Lusignan Prison.

According the Guyana Police Force (GPF) officers found; eight cellphones, 10 cellphone batteries, five cellphone chargers, two SIM cards, two memory cards, 31improvised weapons, 11 pieces of metal pipes, nine pieces of wood, seven phone cards, three zip-lock bags with cannabis, one small bottle of cannabis seeds, one packet of cigarettes, one tattoo machine with ink, one small cannabis plant and a quantity of zip-lock bags.

In a separate bust on Saturday, prison offers and police officers pursued a civilian who was preparing to throw contraband into the New Amsterdam prison.
Samuels said the individual managed to escape but dropped packets of seeds, leaves and stems suspected to be marijuana and other items.
“I wish to encourage members of the public to desist from introducing contraband into the prison as it is a criminal offense that can lead to imprisonment and it also affects the security of the prison,” he said.

Improvised weapons and illicit items have proven burdensome to the prison service on many occasions, especially over the past few years when there were consecutive prison fires that were reportedly sparked by inmates of the Camp Street prison.
Subsequent to the most recent prison fire on July 9, $30.7B was budgeted this year for the security sector to cater to the expansion and rehabilitation of the prison infrastructure and the procurement of a fire boat for the Guyana Fire Service, among other things.

During presentation of Budget 2018 in December 2017, Finance Minister, Winston Jordan told the National Assembly that this year’s budget which is approximately $15B more than last year’s ($14.534) will see some $1.5B going towards the expansion and rehabilitation programme. Works include the expansion of the Mazaruni Prison to accommodate 400 inmates, or 61 per cent more than its current capacity.

Additionally, work on the construction of a new Georgetown Prison is likely to start soon while some $150M has also been allocated to purchase surveillance equipment, body scanners, and beds, among other items.

Jordan said provisions have also been made for strengthening of the Prison Service’s capacity for case management, as well as rehabilitation and reintegration. In budget 2018, $1.8B had been provided to cater for the prison service‘s operational costs, a 4.6 percent increase over Budget 2017.