Atrocity in PoS jail

WE CALL on the Government to do something NOW to alleviate the horror being experienced by prisoners at the Port-of-Spain State Prison. The atrocious conditions existing at this institution in the heart of the nation’s capital are an absolute disgrace to a civilised society and the Government cannot continue to ignore them without being accused of callous and inhuman negligence. Within recent years we have heard complaints by accused persons in our courts about the abominable state of this prison, but even so we were not prepared for the findings of a team of attorneys representing the Law Association who visited the city jail last Friday. What these lawyers revealed to the media afterwards about the life of prisoners at the Frederick Street facility is both unbelievable and intolerable, a festering sore on the face of our justice system, causing us to wonder how the treatment of persons kept in this holding bay facility could have deteriorated to such a level.

Attorney Larry Lalla says, “What we saw was an outrage, a scandal and a serious indictment against our society, modern Trinidad and Tobago. It is a serious indictment against every Government, past and present, who allowed this to happen.” The kitchen, where prisoners’ meals are prepared, was in a terrible state, he said. The floors are black with dirt, the ceiling has grease inches thick, black and dripping. Just ten feet away are the toilets where all the waste from prisoners is dumped. Aghast at what she saw, Natasha Lamy-Ramsden, member of the Law Association council, found 20 cells in the A1 and B1 blocks in total darkness at midday. There were no lights and ventilation was lacking. She could not see the faces of the men behind bars but they were sticking out cups with urine and bags for the toilet.

There were cockroaches on the wall which some of the men collected in their cups. She found five men sharing one cell and the stench there was horrendous. One prisoner told her he had to cover all the holes in his face at night to prevent roaches from invading him. Om Lalla, representing the Criminal Bar Association, said some cells contained 14 prisoners. “How do they sleep? They share a 10x10 cell in which they spend 23 hours a day.” The jail built in the 17th century to hold 250 prisoners now has more than 800. Apart from their inhumanity, the conditions of this prison also amount to a severe travesty of justice since the majority of men held here are on remand, awaiting trial - and therefore must be considered innocent - while the others are serving a term of simple imprisonment for defaulting on child support. We believe that, with some expert advice, measures can be taken now to alleviate at least some of the degrading conditions of this facility.

The cells may be fumigated and washed out, more yard time may be given and better sleeping accomodation provided. We are amazed by the fact that the Maximum Security Prison built at Golden Grove almost ten years ago has never been made fully operational, although this facility was intended to solve the terrible overcrowding problem at the Port-of-Spain jail. This prison, designed to accomodate 2,400 persons, currently holds only 800 prisoners. Now National Security Minister Martin Joseph talks about fixing “some structural deficiencies” which would take another three to four months. Personers held in remand should not be subject to this kind of atrocity. The authorities must do something now.