Close to 150 remanded prisoners from the Maximum Security and Golden Grove Prisons in Arouca engaged in a hunger strike yesterday. They refused all meals from the prison service as well as from their relatives.The T&T Guardian was reliably informed that the prisoners took the action in protest over the slow pace with which their matters are being dealt with in the courts - both at the magisterial and high court levels. The prisoners said some of them have been on remand for over five years and their matters are still pending.
They are also upset at the pace of appointment of Legal Aid attorneys.The inmates, the T&T Guardian was told, are adamant that the action is a result of their frustration at court delays and not linked to the prison officers' current plight over a lack of proper equipment to carry out their duties.The prisoners also criticised proposals for the purchase of the Santa Rosa rehabilitation centre, saying that the backlog in the courts would still exist.
The prisoners said they would engage in the hunger strike for one week and if no progress is made they will extend it until they are given the resolution they are seeking.The T&T Guardian was also told that the prisoners are refusing to accept visits from their relatives, so that the prison service could not say they are eating meals from their relatives but not the prisons.
In a telephone interview yesterday, president of the Prison Officers Association, Ceron Richards, said the hunger strike had nothing to do with his men, but was as a result of the prisoners's anger over the delay in court matters.At a press conference last week, Richards said: "Officers are going to take their frustration out on the job, they are going to withdraw their support from the job and the association will be there to support."
Richards said the threat stemmed from the Government's failure to carry out the recommendations of a special committee for prison reform. The committee, led by Prof Ramesh Deosaran, was set up by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar to address their concerns after the murder of their colleague Andy Rogers in November last year.Richards explained that several of the initiatives, including the introduction of cellphone jammers and powerful full body scanners, are still pending and this is frustrating his members.
Repeated calls to Prisons Commissioner Conrad Barrow went unanswered yesterday.