THE Prison Officers’ Association (POA) called on the Ministry of Homeland Security to address longstanding water and sanitation problems at the Port of Spain Prison, saying officers and inmates continued to face unacceptable conditions because of the lack of functioning water pumps.
POA public secretary Lester Logie raised the issue in an address to members yesterday.
‘I want to make an appeal to the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Homeland Security…to give some kind of directive to purchase the three water pumps for the Port of Spain prison,’ Logie said.
He said officers had been forced to carry water to flush toilets and bathe in several areas of the facility, including the superintendent’s office, Prison Officer I dormitories, Emergency Response Unit dormitory, and Prison Officer II dormitory.
‘We have officers toting water to flush toilets. Even the superintendent office, they have to carry water to flush toilets and to bathe.’
Logie said condemned inmates also had to carry water to flush their cells and bathe.
He questioned why the pumps had not been purchased, arguing that profits from the prison commissary could cover the cost.
‘A three-horsepower water pump-what’s the cost of that? The permanent secretary: you need to give some directives, please.’
Logie said inmates’ families purchased items through the prison commissary generating profits that, in his view, should have been used to improve prison operations.
‘We have a prison commissary where inmates’ families can purchase items, and the profits from that could purchase those water pumps. Now we are unsure where the funds, where the profits are going.’
He said prison officers should not have to ask the association to secure basic operational equipment while a source of funding existed.
‘We cannot have officers continuing to work in these conditions, making requests to the association for these types of items when there is an available source of funds that are clearly being used for other things that are not critical for the running of the prison.’
Logie also called for an accounting of the commissary’s revenue.
‘I think that it is high time that the funds from the commissary be accounted for in some way and be put to use for the benefit of the Prison Service.’
Rat infestation
He also raised concerns about what he described as a recent rat infestation in the prison’s ration room, saying the issue was addressed only after the association wrote to the Minister of Homeland Security.
‘We had an issue with rats recently and they didn’t see it fit to buy the treatment until the association had to write the minister, and then there was an intervention to bring that rat infestation under control.’
According to Logie, management was more concerned about identifying the source of the information than addressing the problem.
‘Instead of treating with it, they chose at the time to chastise the officers for reporting it to the association. Wanted to know who gave Logie that information. That was more important to them than to deal with the problem.’
He said prison officers should continue reporting issues affecting their workplace to the association.
‘Those are the kind of problems that the association should know about, that members have to report about.’
Logie called on Minister of Homeland Security Roger Alexander and Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar to intervene.
‘I am calling on the Minister of Homeland Security for his intervention, on the Prime Minister for her intervention.’
Attempts to contact Alexander and acting Commissioner of Prisons Carlos Corraspe yesterday were unsuccessful.
