Minister of Home Affairs Robeson Benn on Friday charged Prison officials to ensure that prisoners’ wellbeing is well taken care of. The Minister made that statement at the launching of the Guyana Prison Service (GPS) two days Senior Officers Conference, which is being held at the Guyana Police Force (GPF), Training Centre Auditorium on Camp Street, Georgetown.
Minister Benn thinks that the recommencement of this conference is a step in the right direction as it will ensure that prison officers are agents of change, “our next duty and responsibility are to keep these people well. We should not find ourselves in situations where those people are held in degraded conditions,” he said.
The Minister added the prison services is expected to, “to rehabilitate these persons while we keep them in conditions which would avoid any further harm to them.”
Minister Benn said that once these prisoners are treated well, there is a possibility that they can return to society as productive citizens.
“If they are persons who don’t come on [board] with that mission, with that responsibility, we should part company. I don’t want prisoners beaten, maltreated, don’t have enough vegetables, protein.”
The Minister also mentioned that the commissioning of the extended Mazaruni Prison is slated for next month. He said the government is also committed to restoring Lusignan and other prisons.
The two-day conference is being held under the theme “Working towards improving the image of the Guyana Prison Service.”