Dear Editor,
Guyanese recently woke up to the news of another jailbreak. Three dangerous criminals are on the run.
The Lusignan prison is once again the focus of attention by concerned, law-abiding Guyanese. Compounding the situation even more is the shooting of 10 inmates who were protesting the abominable conditions at the prison. Reports are rubber bullets, live rounds and tear gas were used to quell the unrest. Water tenders belonging to the Guyana Fire Service had to be called in to extinguish fires lit by angry prisoners.
The situation is reminiscent of the disaster that befell the nation on July 2017 when the Camp Street Prison went up in flames.
To date, no warning nor danger alert with phone numbers has been issued by law enforcement, calling on citizens to be on the lookout and to report any sightings of the escapees.
Khemraj Ramjattan has portfolio for the Guyana Prison Service but it is becoming increasingly obvious to Guyanese that the Minister continues to be at his wits end, if not clueless insofar as solutions to problems that continue to plague the prison system of Guyana are concerned.
On assuming office, Ramjattan rejected the sound policies he inherited from the previous People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Administration that kept the four prison locations secure and habitable with far less resources.
Ramjattan pretending to know it all, dispensed with the security policies of the PPP/C Administration and replaced them with adhocracy and a set of hodgepodge directives handed down to him resulting in the current crisis gripping Guyana’s prison system.
All the talk about setting up a Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the 2017 fiery debacle at the Georgetown Prisons has come to nought. In fact, there was never any intention to do so. As far as the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government was concerned the CoI held in connection with the horrific events in 2016 was enough.
Ramjattan abdicated his responsibility by not pressing for a CoI into the destruction of the Camp Street Prison deemed the worst disaster ever in the history of the Guyana Prison Service.
Once again, deception became the handmaiden of intransigence and administrative laziness on the part of the APNU/AFC coalition Administration.
Talk about dereliction of duty by a Cabinet headed by a President that likes show off his knowledge about security matters, failure to establish a CoI in 2017 is an excellent example of gross negligence by the Government over which he presides.
From all appearances, CoI’s are established as a means to an end, especially when Granger wants to get rid of those he dislikes and undesirables holding key positions within an organisation which forms part of the disciplined services.
Make no mistake. The CoI’s into the attempted assassination of the President and the Lindo Creek massacre were masquerades aimed at getting rid of certain senior ranks in the Guyana Police Force and Guyana Defence Force and to put in place ranks with whom the Commander in Chief was comfortable.
The strategy plan for the Guyana Prison Service aimed at transforming the Guyana Prison Service into a correctional service remains on paper and the civilian unit established to oversee implementation of the plan been reduced to a virtual arm of the Prison Service.
The Unit is denied the necessary human and financial resources by the National Security Council chaired by the President himself.
We seem to be captivated by a sleepy and hollow syndrome characteristic of those who are responsible for keeping the nation and its populace safe and sound but who chose to spend their time looking out for opportunities to enrich themselves.
Yours sincerely,
Clement J Rohee
