KINGSTON, Jamaica--Minister of state in the Ministry of National Security, Pearnel Charles Jr. has said that the Government is focusing on the rehabilitation and redemption of correctional institutions, instead of the rejection of the United Kingdom prison deal.
Speaking at a public forum held at the University of West Indies, Mona Regional Headquarters in St. Andrew last week Wednesday, Charles Jr. said that he could appreciate the previous Administration’s move for wanting to accept the proposal by the UK to build a correctional institution, as it may have been aligned with their policies. However, it’s not a part of the Jamaica Labour Party’s policies and priorities that are geared towards reducing the prison population and preventive measures, instead of incarceration.
“Our goal is not to have more but to have less, and not to have less on the contrary putting violent criminals on the street, but where we are able to rehabilitate our citizens in such a way they will not have any compulsions to be reoffenders,” said Charles Jr.
Moving towards prison expansion also is not an integral part of the Administration’s policies, he said.
Charles Jr. continued that the focus on prevention has led the Government to initiate new activities to improve youth development. In order to address the issue, he stated that it would be necessary to treat the problems that exist in the communities.
He said that the “308 Men” project at the Tamarind Farm correctional facility, which the current Government has continued from the last People’s National Party (PNP) Administration, has had the start-up of construction of an administrative block, a modern sewage treatment facility and expanding of the agriculture programme, while building a new learning facility.
“Let’s dispel the notion that any Administration that does not grab the millions of pounds that’s coming to us to accept prisoners from another jurisdiction is an Administration that doesn’t believe in building facilities or does not want facilities. We understand that facilities are needed, but they have to [be – Ed.] purpose-built in such a way to enhance rehabilitation,” Charles said.
Opposition spokesman on National Security Peter Bunting, who was present at the forum, said that for several years the Government has been grappling with how to solve the issues existing in the prison system and they had to prioritise health and education, and so they never got the chance to build a maximum-security prison.
Bunting stated that the Government of which he was a part, was not in favour of just having prisoners transferred to Jamaica, because the legislation does not allow for it.
Sixty per cent of Jamaican male prisoners are between the ages 18 and 35 years and serving sentences between three months and three years. These people, he said, are not all murderers and rapists.
“What do you think happens when these youngsters are held in one of our maximum-security prisons ... 19 hours a day in a five by nine cell with two other male adults and a sloth bucket? Well, they can become hardened, they can become bitter, they can become –when they get back on the outside – the biggest headaches to law enforcement. And potentially some of them, but many of them contribute to an unacceptably high murder rate when they’re back into society,” Bunting said.
He stated that it is therefore in the country’s national interest that inmates are not only rehabilitated but are prepared for reintegration into society, and a healthy prison system is needed to achieve it.
According to Bunting, the Tower Street Correctional Facility has twice the number of prisoners for which it was built and designed, which was before the emancipation period. He added that the prisoners are also exposed to natural disasters such as earthquakes along with the correctional staff who work in these institutions.
“Forgive me if I seemed ready to try radical things … go for something that may not be ideal, but certainly, to my mind, the lesser of the two evils. It seemed the first real shot that we had of financing a new, purpose-built, modern facility focused on rehabilitation and integration,” said Bunting.
He said that people are of the view that any prisoner from the United Kingdom would be included in the deal, but it was only citizens of Jamaica who would have been facing deportation after their sentencing, who had exhausted all legal appeals.
He said that the PNP had not signed a prisoner transfer agreement, but only a memorandum of understanding. ~ Jamaica Observer ~
