The opposition PPP today excoriated the government over Thursday’s 17 prison deaths. In a statement, the PPP said that the reforms it started augurs well for the prisons and expressed the hope that they are not jettisoned by the current government.
The PPP press release follows:
The recent riot at the Georgetown Prison which resulted in the death of seventeen (17) prisoners and injuries to several others shattered the myth that the Granger administration is best equipped to address the security situation in Guyana.
The APNU+AFC administration came to power fooling the Guyanese electorate that they are most knowledgeable and best prepared to handle public safety and security in Guyana.
The persistent and frequent speeches trotted out as well as press releases issued by the APNU, and later, in coalition with the AFC would amount to tons of paper reflecting the tireless efforts made by Granger and Harmon, the two principal men in the coalition administration to convince the electorate that they have all the answers to protect life, limb and property in the Republic.
The constant carping and harping on the view that the PPP/C administration was not capable of addressing public safety and security in Guyana became one of the battering rams of the coalition during the 2015 elections campaign.
It is to be recalled that following the demonstration at Linden in July 2012 which resulted in the death of three (3) persons the APNU+AFC tabled a No Confidence Motion in the National Assembly against the then sitting Home Affairs Minister. He was prevented him from speaking, by the then opposition by disrupting the proceedings of the House and they refused to pass any Bills or Motions laid in the House in the name of the said Minister.
Their one seat majority in the Parliament in 2014 was utilized to rejected a Bill proposing a name change of the Guyana Prison Service to the “Guyana Prison and Correctional Service” the name change was to reflect the deep changes that were to come as a result of the implementation of the Strategic Plan for the Guyana Prison Service led by a civilian composed Strategic Management Department within the Prison Service.
Implementation of the Strategic Plan is aimed at enhancing the transformation process which had already began with the establishment of a Sentence Management Board, the Recruitment and Training Board, the Agricultural Development Board, the Prison’s Visiting Committees as well as the establishment of the Cecil Kilkenny Training College at Lusignan.
Above all, came the decision to transform the Lusignan prison into a model correctional facility particularly for young, first offenders to prevent contamination. These reforms were eventually absorbed into the total overall Strategic Plan to transform the Guyana prisons into a correctional institution.
The formulation of a comprehensive compilation of Standard Operations Procedures (SOP) under one cover was accomplished for the first time thus providing ranks of the Guyana Prison Service with a tool to guide them in their day to day functions.
The prison reforms initiated by the PPP/C administration are unmatched in the history of the Prison Service and augurs well for the future provided they are at not jettisoned by the APNU+AFC coalition administration.
The Granger administration must look at all the Prison locations in the country and not only the Georgetown Prison. The informal, illegal networking among prisoners at the various locations are unimaginable and challenging, consequently they pose serious security risks to the country as a whole were they to be activated in a coordinated manner at the same time.
The recent platitudes trotted out by President Granger about what his administration is “considering”, “contemplating” to what is “needed” and what “we want” is not sufficient enough and seeks to throw dust in the yes of the Guyanese public.
To prevent any re-occurrence of this type the Granger coalition administration must pick up from where the PPP/C left off. The blueprint is there for them to examine carefully and to press ahead with implementation of the Strategic Plan for Prison reform.
But if there is one recommendation Mr. Granger has consciously overlooked it is the dismissal of Prakash Ramjattan as the Minister of Public Security of this country. Lying at the feet of Ramjattan and indeed the Granger administration are seventeen (17), not three (3) dead bodies. Consequently, just as President Granger the answer to the security and good order of the Prisons in the same way the Granger administration must take full and collective responsibility for the deadly occurrence at the Georgetown Prison.
The PPP/C had its challenges at prison locations around the country. The Party would be the last to say that it has left a perfect system in place but, at the same time it would be true to say that the challenges were not insurmountable nor without solutions. Moreover, it is an uncontestable fact that throughout its entire twenty-three (23) years in office there was never a shooting of tear gas or live rounds at prisoners nor a riot of the magnitude that recently took place that cost the lives of seventeen (17) prisoners and a number of injured.
The Granger administration stands condemned. Heads must roll for this unforgiveable and unforgettably episode in the hierarchy of the Security Sector in general and the Prison Service in particular.