The matter was even raised in the House of Assembly yesterday when Opposition MP Alvin Smith posed questions.
Responding to his queries, Prime Minister Perry Christie promised a more detailed report at a later time and said prison officials were given to believe that Cilice was one of the inmates least likely to mount an escape plan.
Later in the day National Security Minister Cynthia Pratt said prison work details comprise inmates with no history of violent behaviour and whose release from prison is imminent.
“Escapes from work gangs are almost unheard of,” she said.
“Over the last six years, there have only been two such escapes. All such escapees have been recaptured and upon conviction have been sentenced to additional time in prison.”
Mrs. Pratt pointed out that the process of inmate reform is imbued with some risk. However, she said inmates in such schemes have proven to be reformed in their conduct and behaviour.
She detailed various types of inmate release programmes from early release to supervised work details.
Police on Wednesday still maintained aerial surveillance in an attempt to locate the escaped prison inmate who was serving a two-year prison sentence for fraud.
Authorities were gathering pertinent details about Cilice for an all points bulletin to be released in hopes of closing the dragnet around the fugitive who was also said to have ties with the Grand Bahama community.
Cilice, who was a medium security inmate, was working with a group of other prisoners on the prison chaplainﾒs residence when he disappeared, prison officials reported.
However, his absence was only noted when a headcount was taken later, raising the spectre of negligence, according to Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of National Security Mark Wilson.
Yesterday Minister Pratt said: “I want to encourage the young men and women who are employed at Her Majestyﾒs Prison to continue to move forward and perform their duties effectively. We are depending on them to do their job. Thatﾒs all we can do and encourage them to remain focused.”
Ciliceﾒs escape came six months after the last prison break ended tragically with the deaths of prison officer Corporal Dion Bowles and death row inmate Neil Brown. A subsequent coronerﾒs inquest into the deaths exposed various inadequacies in the prisonﾒs security measures which officials vowed to rectify.
Since then, work has progressed on a perimeter wall, a security checkpoint was instituted at the main entrance and shank vests were acquired.
By: Tameka Lundy, The Bahama Journal
