PPP Parliamentarian on the cause of the prison riot

May 07, 2016 Letters

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Dear Editor,
During the last two Budget Debates, whenever the Opposition questioned the inaction of government to either enforce legislation or to implement certain programmes, the mantra that emanated from the government side of the House has always been, “You’ve been in power for 23 years and you didn’t do it.”
While that may be so, the Granger Administration cannot continue to use that as an excuse for their repeated failure. The APNU+AFC is no longer a party in opposition, they’re the ones in government now. They’re there because they were able to convince the electorate that they know what needs to be done, and knows how to fix it. So instead of whining about what the PPP/C didn’t do while in office, they should just adopt the Nike slogan and “Just do it”
Editor, once again, this mantra is being propagated by none other than the President of Guyana, His Excellency, David Granger.
Responding to questions on “The Public Interest”, Granger blamed the recent Camp Street Prison riots and the deaths of 17 inmates on the failure of the former PPP/C Administration to implement recommendations from previous inquiries into the prison system and from the Disciplined Forces Commission after the Mashramani jail break of 2002. He said, “When the present (APNU+AFC) Administration got into office, there was a stack of unimplemented recommendations. That is what caused the crisis. If they had been implemented 10 or 15 years ago when they were made, we would not have had the crisis last March.” But is that really so?
In a recent Stabroek News  article, “Aside from bed bugs, Camp St prison conditions livable”, a former Georgetown Prison Visiting Committee member disclosed that prior to the May 2015 general election when the committee last visited the prison, the main complaints from prisoners were bugs infested mattresses. “They are cramped a little but it’s not a three star hotel or home, all of that would be expected.” The former committee member added that although prisoners never complained of anything major, they often expressed concern about the length of time they were in prison before their cases were heard by the courts. This information would have been passed on to the prison administration by the committee chairman. Commenting on the March 3 prison riot he said, “One bad herring does spoil the whole barrel. A few could have become frustrated and they wouldn’t care who it affects… The prison officers are trying their best. They were doing an excellent job. When we were there it was a smooth flow. The prison was in good condition.”
So what could have changed so drastically to have provoked the lawlessness that took place at the Georgetown Prison on March 3? One thing is certain, there were no follow-up to the prisoners concerns after the Granger Administration took office. The focus of the new APNU+AFC coalition was the witch-hunting and prosecution of PPP/C supporters, and to reward themselves from day one, with hefty increases in salaries and benefits, much to the anger and disapproval of their own supporters.
They cared less about naming new members to statutory boards to continue the work done by the previous administration. It took several embarrassing letter in the press and constant pressure on the Minister of Social Protection, Volda Lawrence before the new Adoption Board, approved by Cabinet, finally met on December 30, 2015, more than seven months after they disbanded the old Board. And we now know that the new Georgetown Prison Visiting Committee was only appointed sometime last month, after the March 3 Georgetown Prison riot, and 11 months after the APNU+AFC took office. The negligence of the Granger Administration in waiting so long to appoint this new committee must have caused prisoners to feel frustrated and hopeless, and in the depths of despair, resorted to deadly actions to bring their concerns to the attention of the authorities. This I believe is what caused the mayhem at the Georgetown Prison, and the tragic deaths of the 17 inmates, not the PPP/C.
The President and Minister of Public Security had enough time to implement the same recommendations that the PPP/C is accused of neglecting, yet for 10 months they have done nothing. Even now, the excuse for not implementing those recommendations the President spoke of, is that they are awaiting the report from the ongoing Commissioner of Enquiries into the March 3 tragedy.
Editor, there is no doubt that the APNU+AFC coalition continues to do a remarkable job at cleaning up the City. But David Granger needs to stop acting like the Mayor of Georgetown and focus more on his duties as President. Surely the need to stop the deadly crime spree that’s rampant throughout the country should take precedent over the cleaning of drains and the relocation of vendors, but this is not reflected in the Administration’s list of priorities. With the incompetence that has now become the hallmark of the APNU+AFC coalition, I’m afraid even a cabinet reshuffle will prove useless to a visionless government with no plans. Further, had the PPP/C used the 28 turbulent years of PNC rule as an excuse not to fix the infrastructure and grow the economy, Guyana would still have been the poorest country in the hemisphere after Haiti.
Harry Gill, MP (PPP)

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