As a businessman I would like to be the first to publically suggest that the Government sells the Lot 12 Camp Street site. I have on occasion agreed with President David Granger and on this solemn occasion I do again. I agree with him that the prison should not be rebuilt there on Camp Street. I would want to add, however, that no incarceration, of any kind, should take place there. The government should immediately seek an evaluation for a reasonable market price for that property – As Is – with no repairs or remedial works done.
They should cease all attempts at cleaning, fixing, suring-up, or carrying out works on that site, which will cost the taxpayers another dime. They should obtain an evaluation of the property and immediately auction off that place. I will guarantee that they will receive an initial amount of money to begin the ground work for any holding facility or eventual prison that they want to build.
Editor, this is definitely not the time for the blame game, except to again agree with the President that “this was a disaster waiting to happen”. The President did say that contingents were being put in place to reduce the overcrowding of the facility. However, that those measures were not accelerated, given the inferno last year March, is still a sore spot in the minds of many onlookers.
Also, there were other methods that the Prison CoI called for that were not expeditiously implemented. Like alternative sentencing. Or the separation of prisoners based on classification. Or the introduction of a prisoner rehabilitation program. The United Republican Party noticed that there was more emphasis placed on the structural infrastructure of the prison system and not on the human capital. It will be a long process in getting Guyana’s prison situation under control.
The problems did not begin now and the URP does not expect them to end over night. What we do expect and are advocating, is that the Granger administration take politics out of the management of this situations. There are people and the URP knows of one particular person – Pastor Wendell Jeffrey – who have the training and expertise to aid both in the reduction of crime and the reducing of prison overcrowding. We believe that the President needs to follow through on his promise to allow ‘other voices’ to play pivotal roles in the administration of the country. This is one such opportunity.
So I hope commonsense will prevail in this regards. Until there is a complete rebuilding of all the prisons, or until there is a facility to house all the inmates – collectively, the remaining prisons will be subject to the careful vigilance of the authorities. The URP is therefore admonishing the Government to “go high”. Move away from the petty, political, partisanship and allow for the holistic development of Guyana. After all, Guyana belongs to all of us.
Editor, please allow me, on behalf of my party, to offer my condolences to the family of Mr. Odinga Wickham, the prison officer who was killed. We also would like to keep in our prayers those who have been injured.
Guyana has the largest per-capita crime situation in the Caribbean; maybe in the world. And with all the talk from the successive governments, there seems to be little movement in the right direction. The United Republican Party (URP) has long been speaking to this matter. We have personally and publically told the leaders of our nation that until they get a handle on the crime situation in Guyana, our development will be stymied. The recent attempted bank robbery and the subsequent shootings and death, are no surprised. And we in the URP think that it will get worse. We are also very concerned that in an oil economy, robberies, adoptions, kidnappings and murders will be the order of the day. Guyana has just about two years to turn this huge ship of crime around. The task is almost impossible. We say that because the leaders of this country are not really setting the example to which they want to hold the country’s youth accountable. With all the crime committed and billions of dollars stolen (as proven by the many audit reports), there is yet to be one politician or major political party member jailed for stealing the taxpayers money. Instead all we hear is that investigations are ongoing. Or that witnesses cannot be found. So now the current administration has drifted into the same arena they once accused the PPP of. They too are being accused of skullduggery and shady behaviors. All the while, the youths are looking on. It is like an advertisement: if all of the politicians and their close allies are doing those criminal acts and getting away with them, why not let us? Let’s try-a-thing? And it seems to be working. Yes, the Republic Bank’s robbery attempt failed and with tragic consequences but what about the many others that are daily and nightly succeeding? A few nights before that bank robbery attempt, a security guard in Sophia was shot and killed and his revolver taken. Maybe it was that very gun that those bandits had in the failed bank robbery. Editor, the URP firmly believes that what we are seeing in Guyana, beyond the fact that our nation is impoverished, is a copy-cat situation. They young people are determining that if the politicians can increase their salaries, live in inflated rental homes, benefit from addition perks valued at millions of dollars and get away with crookedness, then they too will seek to get rich, or die trying. Until there is transparent, ethical, commonsensical, honest leadership from the top, Guyana’s youth, especially those who have less to lose, will have no incentive to move away for their constant attempts at gansterism. And come 2020 and beyond when the oil money begins to flow to just a select few, the situation will become worse.