Govt. budgeted $ 5B to train inmates, complete prison upgrades
Arrow above Dal Lusignan Bay.
Kaieteur News – The Government has decided that some $ 5B must be pumped into the Guyana Prison Service (GPS) to complete prison upgrades across the country and train inmates.
This development was announced on Friday by the Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh, during his budget presentation.
Of the amount allocated, Dr. Singh said $ 50M will be used to train inmates in the areas of anger management, literacy, agriculture and culinary arts.
In addition, Singh said, 30 incarcerated youths will benefit from digital skills training to support their rehabilitation and social transformation, when they leave the prison system.
Apart from the other minor initiatives that Dr. Singh for them, it is assumed that the majority of the $ 5B will go towards completing prison rehabilitation, construction and upgrades throughout Guyana.
According to Dr. Singh, his government is trying to begin construction of three new blocks in Dal Lusignan Bay located on the East Coast Demerara (ECD). Those blocks he detailed are to accommodate about 600 prisoners.
He also promised that the ongoing expansion of Mazaruni Prison will be completed by the end of this year. When completed, the facility is said to house about 220 high-profile inmates.
Work, he said, is also underway on cells at New Amsterdam Prison.
In recent years, after Camp Street Prison was destroyed by fire, Kaieteur News had reported that billions of dollars were being pumped into the GPS to rebuild, rehabilitate and upgrade prisons, to deal with overcrowding.
However, to date, the problem of overcrowding still exists and the promised refurbished facilities are yet to be completed.
In 2019, under a coalition-led government, it was reported that a total of $ 1.5B was set aside to develop prison infrastructure, alleviate overcrowding and eliminate the need to use temporary holding areas such as Lusignan Prison.
In 2020, another $ 2B was set aside for the same initiative, prison reform, by the current administration.