– to ease congestion
– systems in place to curb spread of COVID-19

THE detention facilities at the Lusignan Prison on the East Coast of Demerara have been upgraded to house inmates in an effort to ease the overcrowding and to curb the spread of the deadly COVID-19.

Adviser to the Home Affairs Minister on the Security Sector, Harry Gill, told the Guyana Chronicle that new systems have been activated to prevent the further spread of COVID-19.
Over 200 inmates at the Lusignan Prison were diagnosed with COVID-19 last month following an ongoing screening campaign at the facility.
The security adviser noted that prisoners who had tested positive and were relocated to a government facility for isolation on the East Bank of Demerara have now returned to the prison under better conditions.

He explained that huge tents with fences, wooden floors and washrooms were created in order to ensure that prisoners are safe and in better living conditions. Each tent has the capacity to house 204 inmates.

Additionally, Gill said two new watch towers were constructed and the drainage networks were improved at the penitentiary.
A screening and testing campaign for COVID-19 was initiated in the prison and since then, the Ministry of Health, along with the Guyana Prison Service, has been working to put measures in place to mitigate the spread of the disease.

The Lusignan Prison had been overrun since the destruction of a large part of the 133-year-old Camp Street prison in 2017, a little over a year after 17 prisoners were killed in a fire at the same facility.

The situation at Lusignan was worsened earlier this year following a fire which destroyed one of the facility’s main buildings that housed an administrative office, kitchen and facilities for approximately 185 to 190 prisoners.

Overcrowding at the facility has been a long-standing concern and earlier this year, about 350 inmates who had almost completed their sentences were released early as part of efforts to address the issue.