Minister of Home Affairs, Clement Rohee yesterday admonished members of Prison Visiting Committees (PVCs) across the country to be more proactive in executing their duties as watchdogs of the Guyana Prison Service.
According to the Government Information Agency, he was at the time speaking at the PVCs’ annual general meeting at the Grand Coastal Inn, Le Resouvenir, East Coast Demerara.
The minister said that the PVCs were not only established to ensure that the physical infrastructure of the prisons is maintained but they also have a duty to focus on the human aspect.
He charged that some of the PVCs are trying to abdicate their duties.
“The Government appreciates very much, the role and membership of Visiting Committees because of the fact that you are civilians that have come forward to give back something to your country,” Minister Rohee said.
He lamented that some PVCs have been delinquent in submitting their monthly report, however, the Georgetown and Mazaruni prisons have been outstanding in this regard, GINA said.
Rohee posited that there is a rather outdated perception in society that people should keep their distance from the prison system because it deals with persons who should be considered outcasts.
“We do not share that view, we believe that there are person within the prisons, who can be rehabilitated and reformed and can return to society to play a productive role. Were we not to recognise that and consider every prisoner an outcast, then we would have been making a serious mistake in terms of our country’s human assets,” he said.
