Prisons Commissioner John Rougier paid kudos to prisoners who had excelled in music at a Christmas event at the Maximum Security Prison, Arouca, on December 4. The event was hosted by the Trinidad and Tobago Prison Service, in collaboration with Prison Fellowship Trinidad and Tobago.
In his address, Rougier said that music was one of the ways in which the service would using to help the prisoners develop a skill. "We have music in the prison service. Similar programme at the YTC. We took part in Best Village and we came second in Drumology. It is a significant role in ensuring the interventions we have started in the rehabilitation process for the wider society," he said.
He also appealed to the families of the inmates to maintain relationships with their loved ones, by visiting them while they were incarcerated. Rougier also paid kudos to volunteers like Judy Ramsaran, who was instrumental in the refurbishment of the chapel.
Among the other highlights was the distribution of music certificates to inmates Neville Glaude, Mark Durham, Nicholas Gosine and Selwyn Fraser. Marinus Ayres, alias DJ Starchild, who received a distinction in Music, said he was looking forward to returning to his DJ job upon his release on December 17.
England resident, Lithuania's Alexander Truchlee, 24, copped the Most Outstanding Student in the Music Class. He said although he didn't have any friends and family in T&T, he felt appreciated by the other inmates. He was incarcerated for drug trafficking.