OFFICER in Charge of the Georgetown Prison, Superintendent Olivia Cox, has reported that at about 16:50hrs on Friday, March 20, 2020 a fire was set on the catwalk of the solitary division of the Georgetown Street Prison.

This was quickly brought under control by the officers on duty at the prison, said a press release from Director of Prisons, Gladwin Samuels.
The release said that according to investigations, the fire was set by convicted prisoner Odel Roberts who is serving three years for trafficking in narcotics and who is also to stand trial for murder.

“It is reported that he was upset with a fellow prisoner who refused to lend him a cell phone and DVD player. It is alleged that Roberts lit newspaper and a piece of his mattress and threw these on the catwalk outside the door of the prisoner with whom he has the dispute,” the release said.
Officers of the Guyana Fire Service visited the scene and declared the prison compound
safe. The police are investigating.