Prison-stay compensation for all

Except that, without seeking to minimise the woman’s predicament, it mirrors what other persons are faced with all the time, whether they are guilty of a crime or not.

It is a frightening thought that by itself should turn anyone away from a life of crime, but is clearly no deterrent, as the crime statistics demonstrate. What is responsible for the terrifying conditions existing in jails and prisons and detention centres in the country, with the many billions of dollars spent on this area of governance annually? Every person who has been arrested and held in such conditions should be entitled to compensation for having to undergo such inhumane treatment, whether guilty or not.

The conditions described in the lawsuit should exist nowhere in the world; they belong in the 19th century, and even then would have been considered unacceptable.

The Minister of National Security should get on the case of whichever officer of his Ministry is responsible for dealing with this problem and ensure that it is corrected post haste. Sorry, I forgot, this is Trinidad and Tobago, there is no one responsible.

Karan Mahabirsingh Carapichaima