Jessie Ramdeo
Senior Reporter
jessie.ramdeo@cnc3.co.tt
The president of the Prison Officers’ Association, Gerard Gordon, has flagged ageing infrastructure, including broken air-conditioning units and a lack of resources, as a major concern for prison officers operating at the Maximum Security facility in Arouca.
Gordon spoke at a media conference yesterday outlining issues which he stated, if left unattended, can compromise the prison’s safety mechanisms for both officers and inmates.
He said, “The facility has not been maintained over the years as it should have been, so you have a number of major systems failing which is compromising the safety of not only officers but inmates. When you talk about over 1,500 souls in a facility that, and continues to this day, still has no true functioning alarm, you have issues surrounding communications, air-conditioning units and other problems.”
He also noted that the recent hot spell underscored the urgent need to improve conditions at the facility.
“The infrastructural design of that complex was not envisaged so that you would not have some sort of climate control to provide ventilation to the building. The building fans which are supposed to bring fresh air into the divisions are not working. There are areas in the facility that carry out some important duties. Those buildings were never designed to operate without central air conditioning,” he added.
Gordon claimed the neglect was not isolated at the Maximum Security but plagued the prisons throughout the country.
The association head also said water and electrical issues as well as a lack of resources have left some officers digging into their own pockets to fund critical supplies.
“An officer should not have to buy his own uniform, or take money out of his own pocket to fix an air conditioning unit to get the job done, or buy his own handcuffs and restraints to get the job done. No two-way radio is available, we don’t have enough restraints.
Gordon claimed the concerns have fallen on deaf ears despite raising them with the relevant agencies repeatedly.
“Letters have been written, meetings have been had, discussions have been conducted, these problems are not last weeks problems, some have been going on for decades. The question should be why the state is reluctant to do what is necessary to ensure officers of the Trinidad and Tobago Prisons Service can carry out its mandate.”
However, while acting Prisons Commissioner Deopersad Ramoutar acknowledged some of the areas of concerns raised by Gordon, he questioned whether or not matters were being deliberately amplified.
“The concerns of the association have some merit in them. However, it is grossly exaggerated. We have some faulty air conditioning units, it is true, but we have repaired quite a few over the past several months. Maintenance and repairs are an ongoing thing. The Maximum Security Prison has a maintenance crew comprising of their members. However, it would be unfair to say that nothing is happening,” Ramoutar said.
Ramoutar said efforts were being made to address the heat issue in the prison by acquiring fans and stationing them throughout the corridors.