Prison crisis puts inmates, staff at risk

Months after sections of Kingston’s maximum security facility were declared an “immediate danger to inmates and staff”, prisoners are still being housed in the compromised areas.

The situation has raised fresh questions about the push for a modern institution.

The Ministry of National Security said it has been trying to reduce the population in the problem areas at the Kingston facility, but “we have limited space for high-risk inmates so there are logistical and security challenges in relocating them”.

That was a January 24 response to Sunday Gleaner questions on the crisis at the Tower Street Adult Correctional Centre, which overlooks the Kingston Harbour.

“We have established protocols and rigorous security measures in place to mitigate any potential risks,” it added.

The questions were triggered after The Sunday Gleaner obtained sections of a structural assessment done on the facility in the aftermath of the October 30, 2023 earthquake that rattled the island. The 5.6-magnitude quake was arguably the most significant tremor over the last three decades.

Ten facilities that house a total of 3,700 inmates were assessed, the security ministry confirmed. The review revealed damage to the various structures of the facilities managed by the Department of Correctional Services (DCS).

Regarding the Tower Street and St Catherine correctional centres, the ministry said the assessment revealed that the “aged stone-wall buildings exhibit exterior cracks, which were exacerbated by the earthquakes and heavy rains” in October and November.

“Additionally, the natural wear and tear from their status as the oldest correctional facilities in operation, combined with soil settlement, have contributed to the visible impact on these structures,” it added.

Both facilities, which house males, have historically operated above their capacity for about 700 inmates. Tower Street reportedly has almost 1,700 inmates, while there are over 980 at St Catherine, the federation of corrections said.

‘REQUIRES IMMEDIATE DEMOLITION AND RECONSTRUCTION’

The Sunday Gleaner obtained a copy of a section of the assessment report, which details grave concerns for five blocks at Tower Street and the 196 inmates who occupied them.

Blocks F1, F2, H1, H2, which cumulatively accommodated 50 prisoners, and another named ‘Belgium’, on which 146 inmates live, were red-flagged “for immediate danger to inmates and staff”.

The report stated a structure considered “red-flagged … requires immediate demolition and reconstruction”. It said occupants should be relocated during that process.

“Please note that all 50 inmates housed on Blocks F1, F2, H1, H2 and the 146 names housed on Belgium need to be relocated immediately,” it said, adding that repairs are needed to the walkways and external wall and slab.

The other structures at Tower Street were given yellow or green codes.

Yellow-rated buildings were flagged for urgent repairs, though “occupants may remain in place and remedial work done with caution”.

The hospital block and the perimeter walls fell under that category.

Maintenance work was recommended for structures labelled green. That category had a similar caution for occupants. Some of the ‘green’ areas included were the administrative building and the pre-release hostel.

RECOMMENDATIONS BEING IMPLEMENTED

The ministry confirmed the situation at Tower Street and said the recommendations “are being implemented”.

Asked if inmates still occupy the five blocks, it said, “efforts were made to reduce the number of inmates occupying those sections”.

“Work is continuing at the relocation site and it is to be completed as part of a speedy solution,” it added.

It is not clear how many persons remain in danger.

But the Government admits that it has a problem, especially finding space for high-risk prisoners, a response that raises questions about the efforts to build a new prison that administrations over many decades have promised.

Similar plans have been advanced by the Holness administration, which rejected a controversial offer by the British government to build a modern prison in Jamaica.

Plans have been approved by the Public Investment Appraisal Branch of the Ministry of Finance, the security ministry said.

The branch was set up to, among other things, provide timely and objective data in support of pre-investment decisions and to assist in mitigating project implementation failures and other risks.

“The Development Bank of Jamaica has been tasked with completing a business plan in a timely manner,” added the ministry, without giving any specific timeline.

In 2022, news emerged that the Government received an unsolicited bid from a prominent Jamaican developer to construct a $30-billion prison on 300 acres in Hartlands, St Catherine.

Later on that year, Zavia Mayne, then junior minister in the security ministry and who had general oversight of the correctional services, indicated that the Government was not averse to considering a public-private partnership to build a state-of-the-art prison.

A joint venture, he said, “is not something that I could say the Government is not prepared to consider ... . What affords us the best avenue to run a modern, effective, and efficient facility is something that the Government will want to take on board.”

The poor and crumbling conditions at Tower Street, formerly GP (General Penitentiary) and the St Catherine Adult Correctional Centre – the island’s main prisons – have been documented for decades.

A United Nations finding in 2010 stated that the two facilities were “overcrowded, lack sanitary facilities, and any meaningful opportunities for education, work and recreation”.

Tower Street was first established by the British colonial government for slave trading after which it was commissioned as a prison in 1845. The St Catherine prison was built in 1655 as a holding area for slaves before it became a site for inmates condemned to death.

LOW VALUE ON INMATES

Although it could cost taxpayers if anything happens to prisoners kept in areas assessed to be of immediate danger, the Government has calculated that the price to pay would be low, argued attorney John Clarke, who has defended many Jamaicans in successful suits against the State for constitutional breaches.

“The State can calculate that … ‘there’s no guarantee we’ll be sued, and if we’re sued, it will take a long time, and when the matter is heard, ultimately, the award provided to the family is so small that it won’t really touch our pockets’,” Clarke told The Sunday Gleaner.

“Furthermore, as a public, we ourselves are so callous to persons in those circumstances that they (Government) know there’ll be no political price to pay in the event that persons were to lose their lives.”

Clarke argued that that posture may be linked to the fact that most of the inmates are from poor backgrounds and whose families lack the resources to “fight for and secure justice”.

“Ultimately, all those persons who may still be in those areas are left with is the hope, God forbid, that nothing happens whilst the Government drags its feet and decides how long, if at all, those sections will be addressed,” he added.

JAMAICA IS FLIRTING WITH A MAJOR CATASTROPHE

Meanwhile, the Jamaica Federation of Corrections and human rights group Stand Up for Jamaica say while the conditions in the prisons are well known, the 2023 assessment is significant for its warning about “immediate danger”.

Arlington Turner lamented that his organisation, which represents almost 2,000 rank and file correctional officers, or about 90 per cent of the workers in the DCS, is fearful that Jamaica is flirting with a major catastrophe.

“I think if we have certain earthquakes now, and I don’t think it has to be very strong, we’re going to have problems in our prisons … . We cannot wait until something happens within these prisons, till we lose lives, then we start to rush to do something and play catch up. These two prisons should be closed,” Turner said, with a call for the Government to give greater priority to the new prison plans.

Turner also said the situation has affected the morale of staff, which he said is “very low”.

“But as custodians on the job who are sworn to serve and protect, we have to ensure that our inmates remain in safe custody as we carry out our functions,” Turner told The Sunday Gleaner.

Stand Up Jamaica, which operates in the prisons, said it understands the difficulties faced by the DCS.

“It’s not an easy task. I sympathise with the efforts made by DCS. Yesterday, they were trying to fix the roof at one of the schools and therefore the school had to be closed,” said Carla Gullotta, the group’s executive director, on Friday, noting the impact of the structural problems on the rehabilitation work at Tower Street.

“Due to the fact that prisons are not considered a priority, DCS does not receive huge funds, … but I think that this is not right. If you don’t want to send back to society 3,000 and more people as criminals, as they came in, then you are making a mistake,” she told The Sunday Gleaner.

jovan.johnson@gleanerjm.com