450 prisoners transferred to temporary facility at Lusignan Prison

Jul 18, 2017 News

The temporary facility which is
accommodating the 450 prisoners

Some 450 prisoners who were being housed in a pasture at the Lusignan Prison were yesterday transferred to a new holding area which was built to temporarily accommodate inmates from the recently burnt Camp Street prison.
Prison Director, Gladwin Samuels, said that three wooden and zinc facilities were constructed at the location.
Yesterday, the prisoners were sanitized before they were transferred to the new facility. While the three structures will accommodate some 450 inmates, Samuels said that they will continue to put things in place to find alternative locations for the other persons who will remain on the pasture.
“Following the fire, we were forced to temporarily locate prisoners at the Lusignan Prison. We have transferred a number of persons to other locations but we still have a large percent of prisoners who were evacuated to Lusignan,” the prison director said.
He further explained that construction work began on the temporary holding facility the day after the fire on July 9, last—and after many days and nights of hard work, the facility was completed.
“Our intention today is to sanitize those prisoners who are currently in the walled area (and) we are looking at 450 of the inmates.”
The Prison Director said that sleeping at the new facility will be much better since they would have purchased new mattresses since the fire.
He also pointed out that while the self support system has recommenced, they have not yet gone into the facility to address the issue of visits.
“We are aware many families are anxious to meet their relative after the fire…so as soon as possible, it will recommence.”
In addition, works are continuing at the brick penitentiary building at the Georgetown Prison and another area which was not destroyed by the fire.
These two buildings will house a total of 350 prisoners at the Georgetown Prison location, further reducing the number of inmates who are being held at Lusignan.
To date, over 400 prisoners in total have been transferred to the prisons in New Amsterdam, Mazaruni and Timehri.
Currently, expansion of the Mazaruni Prison is ongoing at a cost of $278M. The expansion of the Prison was initiated after the completion of the Commission of Inquiry following the fire and deaths of 17 inmates of the Georgetown Prison on March 3, 2016.
Twenty living quarters are being constructed to accommodate additional prison officers in anticipation of at least 400 prisoners who will be housed at the Mazaruni prison.

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