Georgetown : Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan has stated that there is no threat to national security, and based on reports that he has received, there is nothing that would not be controlled and contained by the law enforcement agencies.
The Minister said that an article published in yesterday’s edition of the Guyana Chronicle newspaper headlined: ‘National Security Threat-situation at Georgetown Prison poses threat to national security’ does not represent the facts.
He acknowledged that the situation at the Georgetown Prison is abnormal, in terms of security, but assured that the situation is under control.
“There is no national security threat in my opinion and based on all the information we have gotten (from the Director of Prisons and other senior officers from the prison), there is nothing that would not be controlled and contained by the Ministry and also the police and the army,” the Minister stated.
“We know that because of the very bad attitude of prisoners towards the prison warders, doing a number of reprehensible things …indeed it has kind of damaged the morale of certain prisoner officers, but the majority of the prisoner officers have indicated that these are about normal threats that you would have every day. We have to win back that kind of morale in the prison wards. We are doing that at present by virtue of having the support of both army officers outside and policemen inside,” the Minister said.
Minister Ramjattan pointed out that he can understand the prison warden speaking to the media about the situation, however, he noted that the press has a responsibility to not distort the reality as is the case with the newspaper’s headline.
“The press has a role to play, but if the press in its opinion would like to carry headlines of that nature, they must be responsible enough to understand that it could have far-reaching effects and I thought that at least there should be, some responsibility in relation to headline,” he said.
“Indeed things are not normal (Georgetown Prison) because what has been happening and of course the prisoners have gotten ‘new spunks.’ They now have cellphones and they are dealing directly with certain opposition members, with certain newspaper reporters…we have to utilise whatever messaging (information) we are getting from all of this and to use that as part of our intelligence to deal with the situation and we are dealing with it,” he said.
Since the disturbances in early March at the Georgetown Prison which resulted in the death of 17 prisoners and injury to others, including prison officers, a number of measures have been taken to bring back normalcy to the prison, the Minister noted.These include having the army guard the outside parameters of the prison and the Tactical Services Unit (TSU) of the Guyana Police Force (GPS) guard the inside.
The decision was also taken to separate those prisoners who were identified as being instigators of the situation by sending them to other prisons. In addition, steps are being taken to move long-term, high profile prisoners from the Georgetown Prison to the Mazaruni Prison, as part of the solution of reducing overcrowding in Georgetown.
Minister Ramjattan told GINA that only today the Director of Prisons, in the company of a staff of the Ministry visited the Region Seven prison on another fact finding mission. “They have gone there to do what is called the groundwork as to the factual situation as to where and when, we can start ensuring some infrastructure work for the accommodation of both prison officers and the prisoners themselves,” the Minister said.
The plan is to move at the minimum 120 prisoners from the Georgetown Prison to Mazaruni. “It will be more or less a medium-term kind of infrastructure rehabilitation of Mazaruni for purposes of getting the prisoners out from a Georgetown scenario,” the Minister explained.
He reiterated that increasing the capacity of the Mazaruni Prison is the best short – term measure as the administration looks at having a more permanent solution to the problem. “We have a huge problem with revenue as it relates to dealing with (constructing) new prisons. It is not going to be easy because prisons are extremely expensive and with the economy as it is, it is not that we are going to go up there (Mazaruni) and then in a year have a brand new prison to accommodate 200 to 300 people,” he said.
He emphasised that what is needed will require funding, and that “it is not easy in the present circumstance. We are looking for some overseas help, and we are very reassured that some help will come in that regard.”
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