The A Partnership for National Unity and the Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government must take full responsibility for the jailbreak which occurred last week that led to the loss of the life of a prison warden, the escape of eight high-profile criminals and the almost-complete destruction of the country’s main maximum security prison. In any functioning democracy where ethics and integrity abound, the Minister with direct responsibility for security would have offered his resignation. The President would have even revoked his/her appointment.
The truth is, the APNU/AFC Government, which appeared to have all the answers while in Opposition, failed to use its tenure in Government so far to advance and implement some of the most crucial reforms it had touted before the 2015 elections.
Also, one would have thought that the Government would have been driven to fast-track these reforms and implement fully the recommendations of the ad-hoc Commission of Inquiry (CoI) which investigated the conditions of the prison after 17 prisoners lost their lives during a fiery-inferno in 2016.
One would have also thought that such a occurrence was near impossible given the public outcry which followed the first attempted jail break and the fact that the Public Security Minister was now benefiting from advice from a pool of specially trained ex-security officials recruited by the President in almost every area of governance.
And while the Minister has argued that some of the reforms and recommendations could not be implemented because of a lack of funds, there are those who will him that the Government is very resourceful in finding money when it’s acting in the personal interest of its Ministers and financers. If it can rent a home for half a million dollars per month for Minister Simona Broomes, then it can find money to implement the reforms. Additionally, just how it raised money to fund the multimillion-dollar D’Urban Park Project which is now a white elephant, it can find money to advance the recommendations of the last CoI.
It would be advisable too for the President and his Public Security Minister to stop blaming the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) for the current state of the prison system. The PPP, from all appearances, had nothing to do with the jailbreak and had nothing to benefit from such a plot politically.
The PPP is also not in power and therefore, the onus is on the Government to change the situation. It must ensure quickly that it deals with the current chaos and mayhem in a responsible manner before it has another crisis on its hands. The situation at Lusignan is going to erupt if the Administration fails to relocate a larger number of prisoners.
The news therefore that another CoI will be held into this most recent jailbreak, while the security forces are hunting the escapees, will no doubt be met with a lukewarm response from the populace. While the Inquiry is welcomed, Government needs to get its act together.
The CoI which no doubt will cost taxpayers’ millions of dollars must not become another talk shop or opportunity for the President to find employment for his former ‘squaddies’. Guyanese need answers and the security forces must also face scrutiny for their handling of the situation, even though they did well in the area of evacuating the prisoners. How did the prisoners walk out the front gate? Why haven’t they intercepted them? Why the blackout as far as information is concerned? Why didn’t prison officials act even though there were hints that a jailbreak was planned?
The Government must devise a comprehensive plan that tackles prison reform and share it with the political Opposition immediately. It must speak quickly with civil society organisations about the relocation and reconstruction of the country’s new maximum-security facility. The APNU/AFC Government must start to channel resources and personnel to this area so that no time is lost.
