Latest update April 25th, 2024 12:59 AM
Apr 28, 2016 News
Increased security, staff members and the implementation of cameras and monitors at the Camp Street Prison facility, are among the things needed to secure the loopholes in the prison system.
These shortcomings were highlighted when Prison Officer, Dekanna Benjamin, testified on Tuesday before Commission of Inquiry, (COI) into the deadly March 3, incident.
Benjamin told the tribunal established to investigate, examine and report on the disturbances that resulted in the death of 17 prisoners that she believes that the breaches could result in a major prison break.
She told the panel that loopholes were present at the prison for several months but the information was not released to the public for security purposes.
The officer, who is attached to the Operations Room at the Camp Street Prison facility, disclosed that the problems were brought to the attention of the prison officials and is still to be rectified.
She detailed to the Commission the need for more telephones, cameras and monitors in the Operations Room of the Camp Street Prison.
According to Benjamin, the ratio of staff to prisoner at Camp Street is two to five hundred. She noted that there is a general need for a fuller staff complement to facilitate the overall operations of the prison. (The prisoner management put this ratio at one to 100.)
Esther Charles, another Operations Room Officer, told the tribunal that she was the first person to notice the fire on March 2, and to inform her commanding officers. Charles said that she did not believe that the fire was started by any of the prison officers, since it was started inside the building while the officers stood in the compound.
On Monday, Director of Prisons, Carl Graham, told the Commission that overcrowding, prison gangs and a shortage of staff are among the root causes of riots within the prisons. Graham testified that the prison has a ratio of two prison officers to seven prisoners.
He explained that together with the extreme overcrowding, inmates often form gangs and create rivalry among each other. He said that some prisoners are known for forming gangs and for being ring leaders. Graham disclosed that efforts to break up the gangs proved difficult for officers of the prisons because the prison accommodation is limited.
Under cross examination from the Commission’s Counsel, Excellence Dazzell, Graham explained that there were plans to construct a larger prison facility outside of the city, but the plan had been averted.
Graham revealed that the plans were on the table for some time now but the Government opted to build a Marriott Hotel instead.
He told the Commission that had the government not been reluctant to build the new prison, instead of giving the project the attention and support to the Marriott, the current problem of overcrowding would have been significantly alleviated.
President David Granger had appointed Justice James Patterson, Merle Mendonca, and retired Director of Prisons, Dale Erskine, as Commissioners to inquire into the March 2 and March 3 disturbances at the Camp Street Prisons.
The COI was established following one of the deadliest riots that took place within the prisons in recent years. According to the rules of procedure, the Commission was expected to render its report, findings and recommendations to the Minister of Public Security.
Stakeholders whose views are being considered by the Commission so far, include staff of the Prisons and their representative unions, members of the Judiciary, prisoners accommodated within the Camp Street facility, functionaries in the Ministries of Public Health and Social Protection and any other stakeholder whose input would be deemed appropriate.
The Inquiry is being conducted in the Conference Room of the Department of Public Service, Ministry of the Presidency, 164 Waterloo Street, South Cummingsburg.
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