“THE
plan to build new prisons is not about just creating more cell space,”
says Prisons Commissioner John Rougier.
“Rather it’s to create space to be able to treat properly.”
Even though Prisons Reform had been one of the pet projects of Junior
National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds, the programme got a
jump-start from a recent Amnesty International report that expressed
shock and horror at the conditions under which local inmates and
prisons officers were being housed.
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“Everyone has been calling for it for some time now,”
says Rougier.
“And we have always admitted that the conditions of the prisons
are not acceptable and that changes were needed.
“The local public called for it, the region called for it,
and yes, there’s that Amnesty report.”
He says the exercise is not just “changing for changing’s
sake”, but that there is a real need to have proper correctional
centres.
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Prisons Commissioner JOHN ROUGIER explains
the programme to a member of the public.
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It also provides a renewed thrust for the service to live up to
its motto, “To hold and to treat”.
“Many of the holding facilities in the country are over 50
years old, and they were built for one purpose then.
“The whole design of the system does not allow us to do what
we now need to.”
He says one of the biggest public peeves is that “when a man
goes inside for a small offence, he comes out with knowledge gleaned
from other hardened criminals”.
The new system, he promises, will dispense with that, and will see
“sectioned detention” or “zoning”, with
seniors, juniors, murderers, bandits, deportees, sex offenders and
the like, being separated.
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“That way, it becomes easier to
treat inmates with different problems and special needs,”
says Rougier, who also notes one of the more immediate changes
in treatment protocol.
Apparently, over the past few years much of the prisons
counselling had been conducted by wardens; but now the service
has a fully-qualified psychologist, and it’s expecting
three more soon.
“There just has not been enough space,” Rougier
underscores.
But TnT Mirror asked him if the move to increase prisons
space highlights the runaway crime spree, and that the authorities
may be losing the (six-billion-dollar and counting …)
fight against it.
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Prisons
PRO SHARON
RAMOUTAR has her
work cut out to “clear
up misconceptions”.
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“Absolutely not!” says Rougier.
“In that respect we are doing our part to help in the battle
against crime … with all these programmes in place, we are
hoping to make a big dent in recidivism.”
The average international rate of recidivism is around 66 per
cent … Commissioner Rougier hopes to stamp local figures
well below 50 per cent.
And Prisons Service PRO Sharon Ramoutar concurs: “We have
to make the attempt at effecting change.
“When someone comes out of prison, he or she first finds
problems to get a job, then the community around that person becomes
wary and avoids that person.
“So it’s not only about change behind prisons walls,
but it’s about society breaking down its barriers as well.”
Mirror had earlier discovered that a number of business owners
and proprietors blanked hosting the “Behind Prisons Walls”
programme, saying that they did not want “serving inmates
running around” their premises.
“And that is why the rehabilitation programme becomes so
important.
“We have the goal ahead of us and we are working hard to
achieve it properly … the public is going to see some very
welcome changes soon,” she promises.
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