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Administrative measures taken after New Amsterdam Prison fracas
– New standing order for Guyana Prison Service at AG Chambers
Investigations are continuing into the fracas during which four high profile remand prisoners were brutally chopped
Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee
and burnt by fellow inmates in New Amsterdam Prison in May.
Since then a number of the recommendations and administrative measures have been acted upon, according to Minister of Home Affairs, Clement Rohee at his weekly press conference at Freedom House, yesterday.
This response comes at a time when a prison brawl left one dead Sunday night and another facing additional charges following an altercation at the Mazaruni Prisons.
Rohee explained that for the New Amsterdam fracas recommendations were deliberated upon internally. Persons who were tasked with setting up the commission and the board of inquiry, together with the chief prison officer and other officials, debated the recommendations and a course of action was determined to be taken.
“I focus on two things; one of them is the mandate of the Ministry of Home Affairs in respect to the prisons which is to ensure that prisoners are kept safe and sound behind prison walls.
“We have adopted, by way of cabinet, a strategic plan for the Guyana Prison Service (GPS) which is divided in two parts; one in respect to the custodial aspect of prisons, the other in respect to reform and corrections at the Prisons.
“We took to the parliament a bill to amend the Prison Act so that the prison service could be renamed the Guyana Prisons and Correctional Service, but the opposition threw this out,” Rohee emphasised.
Rohee said that the new standing order of the Guyana Prison Service which was compiled, is an excellent piece of work which was headed by a former chief prison officer Cecil Kilkenny. This document is now at the Attorney General Chambers for review.
“Reforms don’t happen overnight. We have to work hard to ensure prison ranks whose responsibility is to ensure that peace and good order prevails in the prison walls perform their jobs professionally and efficiently as they can.”
“But prisoners are prisoners especially the hard core ones and those who committed serious crimes whether on remand or sentenced for a particular period of time, will always be plotting and planning. Along with internal grudges there will always be issues, these incidents are unfortunate when they take place.
“We have to ensure an investigation is carried out and to get to the bottom of the situation. Usually when we get to the bottom of these things a whole host of issues come to the fore.”
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