Jailhouse overcrowding…Steering Committee to assist in critical IDB-funded project

Jan 22, 2017 News

Cabinet has agreed to the establishment of a Steering Committee for the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)-approved US$8 million Criminal Justice System Project, which is aimed at assisting Guyana to overcome

The Camp Street Prison, Georgetown.

prison overcrowding, by reducing pre-trial detentions and increasing the use of alternative sentencing, among other measures.
Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman, told media operatives at the Ministry of the Presidency, Georgetown that the Committee will comprise representatives of the Ministry of Legal Affairs; Supreme Court of Judicature; Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions; the Ministry of Public Security; the Social Protection Ministry and the Ministry of Finance.
This committee, Trotman explained, will provide oversight and strategic direction and recommendations, and ensure the coordination of the programme’s activities with those of the various Government offices that will be affected by its implementation.
The IDB website states that the loan’s objective is to contribute meaningfully to addressing the high concentrations of prison population in the country, which stands at 256 per 100,000 of national population, well above the world average of 146 per 100,000.
The IDB says: “The Guyanese criminal justice system “tends to use incarceration as the default sanction. However, high rates of imprisonment have been associated with an individual’s future proclivity for crime and difficulties in securing employment, among other negative factors. Building or expanding prison facilities can be a short-term fix for overcrowding, but if root causes are not addressed, the new facilities will eventually be filled”.
The project is divided into two components. The first seeks to reduce the use of pre-trial detention, especially for individuals accused of minor offences. The idea is to provide better legal assistance to individuals accused of non-violent offences, improve the prosecutors’ ability to handle cases according to the seriousness of the offence, strengthen the judiciary, and design and implement a restorative justice programme.
The second component seeks to increase the use of alternative sentencing by the criminal justice system in Guyana. This includes strengthening the country’s legal drafting functions, modernizing probation services and implementing a pilot project at the Magistrate Court level to apply alternatives to imprisonment to non-violent offenders.
The programme is designed to complement a previously approved citizen security programme targeting high crime neighbourhoods.
The $8 million loan is divided into two parts. Four million dollars is financed via the IDB’s ordinary capital, has a 30-year amortization period and an interest rate based on Libor. The remaining $4 million is through the IDB’s subsidized lending arm. It has a 40-year amortization period and a fixed interest rate of 0.25 percent.
The State spends approximately $485,000 on one prisoner per year at the Camp Street penitentiary, which amounts to $1,329 per day, while repeat offenders have increased by over 100 percent .This, was disclosed in the findings of the recent Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the Camp Street prison riot that claimed 17 lives following a fire on March 3, 2016.

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