Hundreds of prison officers are displaying reduced enthusiasm as they continue to decry the deplorable conditions and understaffing at Her Majesty’s Prison, a move that if escalated could cripple the Fox Hill facility’s regular routine.
Prison officers have been working “by the rules” for the past two weeks, after seeing no change in their plight following meetings with Prime Minister Perry Christie, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Security Cynthia Pratt as well as prison bosses, according to well placed sources.
“We are understaffed so much so that if we work by the rules, we can slow things down so much [to] cripple the prison,” the source told the Bahama Journal.
“For instance, in the Maximum Security section, there are more than 700 inmates. At any given time, there is a maximum of only 23 persons working in there. And so, you can just imagine what thatﾒs likeﾅOnce you have inmates moving about, each inmate should be supervised by two officers. Each condemned inmate – there are about 28 ﾖ should be guarded 24 hours by an officer. Take into consideration that in any given day, thereﾒs a whole lot of stuff going on in the prison at one time.”
Sources have also not ruled out escalating the work to rule if the situation is left unresolved as morale among the officers is also said to have plummeted.
Prison Superintendent Dr. Elliston Rahming had made no secret of the fact that the prison has insufficient officers.
He said as much while appearing as a key witness in the coronerﾒs inquest into that deadly prison break earlier this year that resulted in the death of both a prison officer and an inmate.
At the time, Dr. Rahming admitted that while the prison should have an estimated 700 officers, there are only about 409 guarding 1,510 prison inmates.
Understaffing at Her Majestyﾒs Prison is not the only problem officers are faced with, said another source who declined to be named.
For years, the conditions under which the officers are expected to carry out their duties have been less than satisfactory.
“This is one of our main concerns. We work under some very harsh and horrendous conditions especially in the Maximum Security unit. This building has been in existence since 1952,” the Journal was told.
“It is dilapidated and we still dump night pails twice a day. The environment is extremely hot. There is little ventilation. And no one is seeing to our immediate needs.”
Prison officers are not the only ones who have complained about conditions at the incarceration facility.
Prison escapees Barry Parcoi, Forrester Bowe and Corey Hepburn made additional pleas to authorities to bring relief to conditions at the prison.
Her Majestyﾒs Prison has undergone a number of security upgrades over the past several months including the construction of a $60,000 canopy at the main entrance of the Fox Hill facility that officials say would feature “airport-like security” measures including walk-through and baggage scanners.
According to Dr. Rahming, within a year, a proper perimeter around the prison is expected to be complete. Meantime, the Deputy Prime Minister has also revealed plans to construct a new Maximum Security wing.
Some prison officers say they are not giving officials much longer to resolve the outstanding issues.
“Weﾒre going to give them another couple of days ﾖ perhaps until the end of next week. Once they donﾒt deliver on addressing our issues, we have to turn it up a notch and that means anything from a demonstration to sick leave,” the source vowed.
“The prison would just stop. They rely on prison officers to keep the prison going. We take the inmates out on work programmesﾅ.They also rely on us to take inmates to court. And once we tap into the judicial system, this could create a whole (backlog of cases).”
The frustrations were heightened as authorities remained baffled about the latest escape of a prison inmate Adlet Cilice, 21, who disappeared from a prison work gang more than two weeks ago.
Since then, police officials have been searching throughout The Bahamas for the Haitian-Bahamian fugitive, especially in Grand Bahama, his last known address.
By: Macushla N. Pinder, The Bahama Journal
