By Balford Henry, Senior Staff ReporterWHILE PRISONERS continue to escape from overcrowded jail cells, the new $442.7 million Horizon Remand Centre on Spanish Town Road in St. Andrew is home to only eight female inmates supervised by 65 warders.
Acting Commissioner of the Correctional Service, Earl Fearon, confirmed that although the new state-of-the-art centre has accommodation for 1,030 inmates, 1,000 males and 30 females, only eight women were housed there yesterday. The complement of warders was a total 65, he said, working on shifts of about 20 each.
The Horizon Remand Centre, opened last October by Prime Minister P.J. Patterson, was expected to reduce the overload of persons remanded at police stations in the Corporate Area, as well as about 100 remandees being accommodated at the major prisons, the General Penitentiary in Kingston and the St. Catherine Adult Correctional Centre. But, so far, only 11 women who were at Fort Augusta, St. Catherine, have been removed there, of which three have been released.
But Mr. Fearon said yesterday, that there were several problems hampering the full utilisation of the centre, primarily the lack of warders to secure the facility. The remand centre needs a full complement of about 270 warders. Except for supervisors, the 65 warders there are new recruits. Attempts to transfer more experienced warders from other prisons have been opposed by senior officers.
Mr. Fearon also listed a lack of water which, he said, the National Water Commission (NWC) was trying to address with a stand-by truck; and a lack of equipment for the kitchen and laundry, as the other problems affecting the centre.
He admitted that the most serious problem now affecting the entire correctional service was the severe shortage of warders. This is due primarily to the interdiction of 800 warders since February, 2000. The warders are awaiting resolution of disciplinary charges against them by the Public Services Commission.
The warders were sent off on quarter pay pending the hearings, after a sick-out protesting against the re-appointment of former Commissioner, Lt. Colonel John Prescod, in December, 1999. But, the slow disciplinary process has led the Ministry of National Security to seek a settlement of the issue outside of the Commission. Those talks virtually broke down last week when the Minister, Dr. Peter Phillips, rejected proposals from the warders' union, the University and Allied Workers Union (UAWU). Another meeting is likely next week.
Mr. Fearon said that the system needs about 2,500 warders. He currently has less than 1,000 in the service. About 67 recruits are being trained and are expected to join the staff in another few months, but this will not fully solve the staff problem.
