Investigations ongoing into New Amsterdam Prison fracas - says Rohee

Investigations ongoing into New Amsterdam Prison fracas – says Rohee

Jul 01, 2014 News

Home Affairs Minister and General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Clement Rohee, told the media yesterday that investigations are ongoing into the brutal attack at the New Amsterdam Prisons, recently.

New Amsterdam Prison

Four high profile remand prisoners were brutally chopped and burnt by fellow inmates at the New Amsterdam Prisons.
The situation was quickly brought under control and the four men were rushed to the New Amsterdam Hospital.
The four men all received multiple chops about their bodies and were in critical conditions when they arrived at the hospital.
However, they were stabilized before they were transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital in two different ambulances.
It is understood that most of the illegal items were hidden in a section of the prison called “the Wall”.
Rohee said, yesterday, that the Board of Inquiry which was set up to investigate what transpired will be “hopefully” completing that investigation within the next couple of weeks. They will submit a report and make recommendations to the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Speaking to the need for an immediate plan to deal with the New Amsterdam situation, Rohee said that a Strategic Management Department (SMD) will be put in place as an oversight body to ensure that the strategic plan [for the Guyana Prison Service] is implemented.
Those persons have been hired and will soon be ensconced in the prison system. “These are civilians just like we have with the police, a civilian oversight body. We will have a similar body at the prison to ensure that this plan is implemented in accordance with what that plan says.”
The other strategic plan that the GS was making reference to was the plan to transform the Prison from the Guyana Prison Service to a Guyana Prison and Correctional Service.
He said that this was not a cosmetic change but administrative measures to be taken in keeping with the Prisons Act.
This will ensure that “a greater balance is brought to custodial as well as correctional responsibilities because we believe a modern prison must have a good balance between custodial responsibilities and correctional responsibilities.”
He said that while “we are awaiting all of that to happen we are never the less carrying through with a number of administrative reforms.
According to Rohee, “We have the visiting committees, the centres management board; you have the agricultural board that is looking at the question of self sufficiency in food, particularly agricultural products, poultry and so on for the Guyana Prison Service.
“All of those things are happening in the mean time, so while we are awaiting the establishment of the SMD to overlook the implementation of the strategic plan, the Ministry of Home Affairs based on the Budgetary allocations which we have gotten for the Prison Service, we are proceeding with that so there are two parallel activities that are going on at the same time.”