By Glenroy Sinclair, Staff ReporterA STRATEGIC plan aimed at guiding the Correctional Services Department over the next three years is now being put into effect, to rid the penal system of over-crowding.
Central to the plan is the inclusion of measures to improve the timely re-classification of inmates and their transfer from high to low-risk prisons, says Commissioner of Corrections, Major Richard Reese.
Already the refurbishing of open institutions to accommodate short-term low-risk inmates, increase use of electronic security, develop project proposals and submit for building maintenance programmes, and establish partnership with human rights organisations are under way.
PRISON TRANSFERS
Some 139 prisoners are now being re-classified for transfer from the maximum security Tower Street facility to the medium-security Tamarind Farm prison.
These are inmates who have already served the majority of their sentences, and have faced qualifying interviews to determine, among other things, how much of an escape risk they pose.
In the meantime, the Correctional Department is "also revising conditional release for inmates," said Major Reese, as part of the strategy to deal with space in the prison population of 4,000.
The conditional release programme was suspended by National Security Minister, Peter Phillips, in December 2001, after an inmate had escaped from a work site in Kingston.
CONDITIONAL RELEASE
The programme is a crucial aspect of rehabilitation in the island's seven adult correctional institutions, he said.
Conditional release includes activities which take inmates outside the institution, and is designed to provide a transition for prisoners, bridging the gap between the community and the penal system. These activities include time allowed to visit family, attend church, schools, festivals, work releases or other 'gainful engagement'.
The new-look dormitories at Tamarind Farm, which were battered 15-years ago by Hurricane Gilbert, were repaired by inmates at a cost of under $120,000. The pieces of dirty-looking zinc that were being used as make-shift windows have been replaced with brand new louvres.
