Forgotten prisoner dies in cell

Dec 28, 2010 News

All is not well in the Georgetown Prison this Christmas, with inmates mourning the tragic death of a colleague whose lifeless body was discovered in a cell on Boxing Day.
The dead inmate, an epileptic whose name was given as Barnes, of Old Road Craig, East Bank Demerara, was recently incarcerated for simple larceny.
Kaieteur News understands that the man was locked in a cell reserved for persons of unsound mind despite fellow inmates who knew him telling prison authorities that he was sane.
A source within the prison told Kaieteur News that Barnes was placed in the cell on Thursday last by prison officials and was apparently forgotten.
The source said that when officials finally remembered the prisoner, they went to the cell on Boxing Day with a view to checking on him.
However, after frantic efforts to get the cell open, they eventually discovered the stiff body of the prisoner.
Barnes was picked up and taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital mortuary to await a post mortem examination.
The prisoner’s death threw a damper on the already sombre mood among fellow prisoners who are experiencing their worst Christmas in terms of meals for several years.
The prisoners complained that instead of the customary special Christmas meals, they were given the ordinary dry bread to consume for the entire holiday period.
“For over two weeks now, they giving us dry bread morning and afternoon. One hot dog bread wha cost $20, and then they give you $60 rice in de midday,” one inmate told this newspaper.
This is despite Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee telling the National Assembly a few years ago that it costs the administration $19,000 a month to maintain each prisoner.
Only recently, senior officials of the prison debunked claims that prisoners were being given substandard meals.
But inmates have a different version of what takes place behind the prison walls.
“This is the biggest fast food restaurant in the country. Before they start serving meals they sell. That is why they cook the substandard meals so that you are forced to buy. From $100 a bowl to now $200 a bowl for special food,” another inmate told this newspaper in a telephone interview.
“If I don’t buy food from the canteen I will die in here, because what they serve you, you cannot eat,” another inmate added.
This situation they claimed is what forces prisoners to engage in illegal activities to earn money for their upkeep.
According to the inmates, this Christmas, prison officials claimed that the beef for the pepperpot, which is normally served with bread on Christmas morning, came late.
In the end the prisoners ended up getting the pepperpot with rice for lunch on Boxing Day.
The inmates claimed that whenever they complain about the situation, the prison authorities lay the blame squarely on the Ministry of Home Affairs, who they said was responsible for the prison menu.
“But is de prison officer themselves who fetching out the stuff. We could see them every afternoon carrying out the things in buckets. We are planning not to eat any food until this is rectified,” an inmate told this newspaper.