POINTE BLANCHE--Windward Islands Civil Servants Union/Private Sector Union (WICSU/PSU) is concerned about the safety of prison guards at the Pointe Blanche Prison, and is calling on government to urgently address the staff shortages at the facility for the safety of inmates and its members.
The union's concerns come on the heels of a serious fight at the facility Thursday, which resulted in an inmate being seriously injured and the discovery of two firearms in a subsequent search of the facility.
WICSU/PSU President Dearie Leonard told The Daily Herald that manpower at the prison needs to be beefed up with competent persons. If this cannot be done the union wants government to consider seeking temporary assistance from the Netherlands for manpower to help bolster the security at the facility until alternatives can be found.
She said the safety of prison guards has been at risk for quite a while now. The union has held numerous meetings with prison director Edward Rohan and had recommended possible solutions. The suggestion of enlisting the assistance of the Netherlands was made to prison management and the union had been told that these suggestions were brought to the attention of the Justice Minister.
"Just Monday, we had a meeting with the prison director and he indicated that the suggestion that we put on the table was discussed with the Minister of Justice, but somewhere down the line the suggestion was not taken up," she said. "Requests were made for more prison guards, but the same story of there being no more money on the budget for this was given.
"Today it was a prisoner who was hurt, but tomorrow it can be a prison guard. These issues need to be addressed," she stressed. "It is not that we do not care about the prisoners because they are human beings, but if anything should happen to any of our members at the prison, the union will hold government fully responsible for that individual."
Leonard said it was worrying to learn that guns had been found in the prison. Although the union is there to defend the rights of its members, it will not condone any member breaking the law. "If it is proven that it was a guard who took those guns into the prison, whether they are a member of the union or not, they should be punished to the fullest extent of the law because by doing this they are jeopardizing the safety of prisoners and prison guards.
"We are calling on government to solve the problem of staff shortage at the prison today and not tomorrow. It is strange how we can go and recruit people to come to St. Maarten to work, but conveniently it cannot be done for the prison."
She said as temporary measure manpower can be brought in for six months to a year or two until the prison has sufficient manpower to adequately protect the facility. "We don't need quantity alone, we also need quality.
"We want the Minister of Justice to look into this matter, and whoever will be the Minister of Justice after October 10, we would like for him or her to focus on equipping the prison with prison guards," Leonard added. "We are urging all of our members at the prison to think of their safety first."
