In the wake of ongoing discussions to implement measures to improve the nation's prisons, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar is expected to tour the Golden Grove State Prison, Arouca, at 10.30 am today. On Monday Persad- Bissessar appointed a special eight-member committee, headed by Professor Ramesh Deosaran to investigate and address issues raised by prisons officers and prisoners.
Other members include Prisons Commissioner Martin Martinez, Inspector of Prisons Daniel Khan, Minister of National Security Gary Griffith, Minister of Justice Emmanuel George, acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams, attorney Wayne Sturge and general secretary of the Prisons Officers' Association Gerard Gordon. The committee, which is expected to make public a list of recommendations tomorrow, falls under the Ministry of Justice.
As the committee held its first meeting on Tuesday at the Office of the Prime Minister, St Clair, a list of the names, addresses and telephone numbers of several prisons officers was found hidden inside the wall of a cell in the Arouca prison. Martinez, however, said yesterday he was yet to see such a list. In a brief telephone interview yesterday Martinez said: "I don't know about any hit list. Asked if he had ordered an investigation into the hit list Martinez reiterated his comment that he had seen no such list.
Griffith, who spoke to the T&T Guardian just before leaving for London yesterday, said he would prefer not to talk about any investigations which were on-going. "Once any matter is on-going and an investigation is taking place I really can't comment on it. We also have a committee in place where a full official statement would be made on Friday (tomorrow)," Griffith added. He, however, was confident suitable measures would be put in place to properly deal with issues which have been plaguing the nation's prisons.
Saying discussions have been fruitful Griffith added that the committee was not only mandated to come up with solutions but also to provide a timeline regarding immediate and future recommendations. While in the UK Griffith said he would attend some 14 national security meetings which would cover a host of topics, including crime scene investigation and what measures were implemented in the UK to improve its prison system.