New prison at Lusignan, reintegration programmes for females – Benn

Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn recently outlined plans of the Guyana Government to construct a new prison for females at Lusignan on the East Coast of Demerara as well as educational and reintegration programmes to help their return to society.
Benn made these disclosures during his debate last week on the $781.9 billion Budget 2023.
The Home Affairs Minister acknowledged that there has been a tremendous increase in the entire prison population across the country. In recent years, the prison population has grown by some 14 odd per cent, that is, over 2100 new inmates in the system.
While a significant portion of these are male prisoners, Minister Benn spoke about a number of initiatives being undertaken for female inmates.
“We are talking about putting in, with the new prison infrastructure that we’re building at Lusignan, a school, a health centre, a new women’s prison. We’re talking about having education for them,” he indicated.
According to the Minister, focus will also be placed on establishing special programmes geared towards reintegrating these women into society.
“We’re talking about a release programme called ‘Fresh Start’ to enable them to move to gainful employ, reengage and rehabilitation with the society and with their families. We will do these things,” Benn declared.
These plans are part of the Government’s overall reform and modernisation programme for the Guyana Prison Service which targets the transformation of the prison service from a penal to a correctional service, promotes an environment where custodial safety is assured, and inmates are rehabilitated and successfully reintegrated into society.
Already, some $5.5 billion was spent in 2022 on this initiative including $2.4 billion to commence sweeping upgrades to the custodial and correctional facilities across the country.
Nevertheless, a further $2.2 billion of the Guyana Prisons Services $5.5 billion budget is allocated in Budget 2023 to advance prisons being constructed at Mazaruni and Lusignan, and to commence work for the reconstruction of New Amsterdam Prison. Another sum of $50 million is allocated to ensure “trade shops” at these facilities are fully equipped to facilitate training in carpentry, joinery, masonry, block-making, baking, cooking and other craft and trade activities to allow inmates to acquire life skills so that they can seamlessly re-integrate into society and prevent recidivism.
In 2022, some 1400 inmates were trained in areas such as block-making, basic agriculture and culinary arts among others, at a cost of $88.9 million. It is anticipated that in 2023, a further sum of $100 million will be expended towards the training of 1500 inmates which will support their rehabilitation and social transformation in preparation for their exit from the prison system.
Additionally, Government has committed to ensuring that the Prison Service is staffed with qualified and competent officers, with the necessary skillset to allow them to effectively navigate this complex environment. To this end, it will invest in prison management training for over 400 prison personnel this year. (G8)