A street poll conducted by The Guardian revealed an overwhelming number of people who feel that the Prison Report should be made available to the public.
It was just a few days ago that Prime Minister Christie insisted the government has nothing to hide, and officials at Her Majesty’s Prison (HMP) have submitted the necessary information needed to compile the report on the prison break, which left a prison guard and inmate dead.
“There is no reason why the government ought not to publish it,” said Mr Christie, while not saying when the report would be released. “The prison has supplied that report to the ministry. It might be one of those reports that will be laid in Parliament when we go back to Parliament.”
Now residents are ‘speaking out’ about the controversial report.
“I think every Bahamian wants to know what happened on that night in January,” said Verna Mackey. “It is an important yet tragic time in our history. And the facts need to be out there in the open because every Bahamian has the God-given right to know what is going on in our prison system.”
Others argued that operations at the prison must be more “transparent.”
“We need to know what’s going on with the prison,” said 43-year-old Melvin Seymour. “The people of The Bahamas help subsidise its funding and we should know what’s going on in there. I strongly believe that releasing that report is the first step to making Her Majesty’s Prison more transparent.”
Mother of three Josie Sands said: “The government says they have nothing to hide but it seems like January is going to come again and the public hasn’t even glimpsed the report. The truth is we the people need to know what’s going on.”
Still some residents defended the government’s delay in releasing the prison report.
“I can understand the government’s decision not to release the report immediately because they themselves have to go over and analyse what went on,” insisted contractor Marvin Smith. “So I believe they will release it in due time.”
Her Majesty’s Prison has been involved in a web of controversy since the beginning of the year. On January 23, six days following the prison break, a five-member Court of Inquiry appointed by Superintendent of HMP, Dr Elliston Rahming, began compiling the report.
Almost one month later on February 27, Dr Rahming revealed that the investigations were complete and the findings were forwarded to the Ministry of National Security. The internal 36-page report was said to give a thorough account of the January 17 prison break.
Leader of The Bahamas Democratic Movement, Cassius Stuart, yesterday criticised Prime Minister Christie’s visit to HMP.
“After four-and-a-half years of being Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, it is startling to know that Mr Perry Christie found himself at the prison,” said Mr Stuart.
“It is unacceptable for the nation’s leader to just be visiting the prison after all this time.”
By: JASMIN BONIMY, The Nassau Guardian
