Weapons used snuck out from Camp Street Prison – Ramjattan

Cow slaughtering at Lusignan jail

A video circulating on social media of transferred prisoners slaughtering and roasting animals to eat at the Lusignan Prison have raised concerns about the level of security at the East Coast Demerara facility.

Many questions have arisen about how the inmates were able to get their hands

on weapons to kill the animal and materials to start the fire. Having admitted knowledge of this particular incident, Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan told Guyana Times on Wednesday that the weapons used by the prisoners were “snuck out” of the Camp Street jail on Sunday.

“Yes, that happened. They were desperate and there was a young cow and some sheep I believe, at the back there… But those knives and cutlasses and so on, they got them from raiding the weapon store at Camp Street. During the fire and in all the chaos, they slipped in the storeroom and workshop and stole those weapons,” he stated.

The Minister explained that the inmates hid the weapons as they were ushered out of the burning Georgetown facility on Sunday and subsequently transferred to the Lusignan Prison. According to Ramjattan, at the time of the transfer, the authorities were unable to conduct any searches on the prisoner since the main priority then was to “save lives” and get the prisoners to a “secure” location.

He went on to say that no searches were conducted since the transfer because they wanted the prisoners to settle in at their new location. Nevertheless, the Public Security Minister noted that each prisoner would be searched when they were relocated to the new section that has been built to accommodate them.

The construction of the shed-structure comes in light of relatives complaining bitterly about the treatment of the prisoners who have been placed in a pasture at the Lusignan Backlands in makeshift tents made out of tarpaulins. This project is being undertaken by the Public Infrastructure Ministry and according to the subject Minister, David Patterson, the structure was about 80 per cent completed and was scheduled to be completed by the end of Wednesday, after which it would be handed over to the Public Security Ministry.

Minister Ramjattan told this newspaper that once the structure was completed, the prisoners would be transferred to that facility, where they would be better accommodated.

Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo on Wednesday chided the coalition Administration for its incompetence in handling the entire incident, especially the security aspect. In fact, he made reference to the video that was circulated on social media saying that the situation needed to be addressed instantaneously.

“It looks like one of these jungle survival reality shows and these things are unacceptable too! If you have those conditions and they persist for long, then it would create a lot of dissatisfaction… Our security forces acted well; I am in support of our security Forces, but the Government has to give leadership. The Government needs to say what’s happening at the gymnasium or some other facility, take the people there, at least they will be in sheltered environment. You drop them like cattle in a pasture and then they’re gonna get worked up too,” Jagdeo stated.

On the other hand, acting Director of Prisons, Gladwin Samuels, told the Government’s Information Hub on Wednesday that while they were doing their best to control the transferred prisoners, there were definitely some rogue ones making this task difficult. “We are still in the process of working very hard to establish proper control and order at the location. While a lot of the prisoners are cooperating with us, there are some rogue elements amongst them. Efforts are being made to have that situation rectified,” Samuels said. The acting Prisons Director noted that among the measures put in place to better control the behaviour of the prisoners was the installation of a louder public address system so that messages and instructions could be clearly and effectively passed on to the inmates.