By Feona Morrison

VISITING senior prison officials from Saint Lucia and Suriname have said that they are very impressed with a number of projects being carried out by the Guyana Prison Service (GPS), and have promised to take some of these initiatives back to their home countries.

Chief Commissioner of Prisons within Suriname’s Ministry of Justice and Police, Joyce Pané-Alfaisi, and St. Lucia’s Assistant Director of Corrections, Christ Felix praised Guyana for its efforts to equip prisoners with life skills they could use after their release from prison.

The senior officers, who are in Guyana for the GPS’s Annual Senior Officers’ Conference, expressed their amazement at Guyana’s systems during an interview with the Sunday Chronicle.

Pané-Alfaisi praised Guyana for the development and changes made to its penal system, and commended it for introducing new ideas, and the manner in which it is transforming the infrastructure.

She applauded senior GPS officials for their efforts in bringing about improvements to the country’s correctional and rehabilitative facilities.

The Surinamese official stated that one’s purpose in the prison system is not only to work, but also to assist individuals who have broken the law.

“You are in the prison system because you want to help, guide, and coach the one who made some step that isn’t so good in the community. You want to change them, and if you want to do that, you have to work together, not only in your country, but you have to look broader; look overseas, look at your neighbouring country,” she said.

Pané-Alfaisi was particularly impressed with the Lusignan Prison’s reception system, in that she felt that the welfare of inmates in Guyana’s penitentiaries is taken very seriously.

Felix, on the other hand, said he will be taking home implementable development ideas from his trip to Guyana.

He hailed the synergy in teamwork between Director of Prisons (ag) Nicklon Elliot and top prison officers, noting: “You cannot do it all alone; you need the teamwork to get it done and I can see that he [Elliot] has very good control.”

He said that throughout the conference, they were able to discuss and develop recommendations for solutions to prevalent issues in the penitentiaries of Suriname, Guyana, and St. Lucia.

The three nations have committed to cooperating so they could learn from one another. According to Felix, talks for exchange programmes have already taken place.

Since returning to office in August 2020, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) government has pumped billions of dollars into addressing the expansion and rehabilitation of the prison infrastructure across the country.

A budget of $6.5 billion has been set aside to continue supporting the GPS’s modernisation. Of this amount, $140.2 million will go towards training and rehabilitating 1,600 prisoners in various fields, as well as providing training in prison administration for 450 officials. Prison infrastructure improvements have been given $2.8 billion.

The GPS places a high priority on rehabilitation, and offers a variety of programmes in several technical areas to assist inmates in managing their lives and avoiding recidivism.

The GPS is made up of five prison facilities, and its Georgetown headquarters. Prisons are located in Georgetown, Mazaruni, New Amsterdam, Lusignan, and Timehri. There are presently 2,240 men, and more than 60 women being held in prisons across Guyana.