Gang rivalry between Rasta City and Muslims is being blamed for the eruption of violence behind the walls of the Maximum Security Prison (MSP) on Saturday which left several prisoners injured.
Well-placed prison sources told the T&T Guardian that the on-going battle between the two groups have been escalating and “came to a head on Saturday when a mini-riot broke out in the MSP.”
Prisons officers told the T&T Guardian that “what is more frightening is that their colleagues were unable to call for help because the alarm system is still not working.”
The alarm system went down in 2013 and prisons officers told the T&T Guardian that despite efforts to get it repaired or replaced nothing has happened.
President of the Prisons Officers Association Ceron Richards said that “improvised weapons, makeshift weapons made from scraps of metal were seized.”
He said “the incident could easily have been fatal, but those in authority seem unwilling to address the officers’ concerns or they just don’t care.”
Richards said it appears that those in authority do not recognise that “the gang warfare happening outside infiltrates the prison, because if I hate you outside that will not change when I inside, so there is violence behind the prison walls and we have to prepare for that, but we at the stage where the Maximum Security Prison, the largest prison with the most dangerous inmates does not have a basic thing as an alarm system.”
While Richards describes the situation behind the walls of the MSP as “extremely volatile,” he does not believe that the target of attacks are prisons officers.
But, he warned: “if this is allowed to continue where there was no alarm system it places the lives of both prisons officers and inmates at risk.”
Last Thursday, Richards called on Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley to dismiss National Security Minister Edmund Dillon for failing to deal with issues affecting prisons officers. Yesterday, Richards reiterated the call saying “the Minister is failing. The Minister is playing the fool. He is playing with the lives of inmates and prisons officers.”
Richards said in addition to the alarm system which was not working “officers are working without stab-proof vests, so if an officer goes to intervene in a fight and an inmate turns on him, he could be seriously injured or killed. We just have to thank God this did not happen when the officers intervened in the fight on Saturday.”
He said Commissioner of Prisons Sterling Stewart told the Association that because of the age of the alarm system “they have been unable to get parts to fix it. So if it is obsolete and they can’t get parts why can’t they replace it? How difficult is it to acquire an electronic alarm system?” he asked.
Richards said the association “is disappointed with the conduct of the affairs of the prison by the present minister. We thought the issues would have been resolved, but it appears he is asleep. I am being ridiculed for criticising the minister but it is his job to fix the problems, the Association cannot buy an alarm system, we cannot buy the stab-proof vests, those are things which should be provided by the employer, and the employer in this case is the Minister. The Minister must take charge and address the problems,” he said.
BACK-UP SYSTEM IN PLACE—MINISTRY
Communications Manager at the Ministry of National Security Marcia Hope told the T&T Guardian yesterday “even though the alarm system has been disabled due to a technical malfunction, this has not compromised security at the MSP.”
Hope said she has been advised that “a reliable contingency electronic system is in place.” But she could not give any further details for “national security reasons.”
However, prisons officers attached to the MSP told the T&T Guardian they are “not aware of any electronic system” and insist that to their knowledge there was “no functioning alarm system at the prison.”