National Security Minister Stuart Young says a threat by prison officers to stay away from work over the murder of yet another of their colleagues did not affect the operations at the nation's prisons on Thursday.
But the murder prompted Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, as head of the National Security Council, to summon a meeting and the only item on the agenda was the issue of the prisons.
Young made told the media, at Thursday's post-Cabinet press briefing, he had been asked by the Prime Minister to organise the meeting following the second murder involving a prison officer this month.
The murder of Darren Francis prompted an angry and emotional reaction from the Prison Officers Association which threatened that its members would stay off the job.
But Young told the media the planned sick-out did not affect the prisons.
"In the Port-of-Spain prisons and all of the other areas and even the Maximum Security Prison, I was told 25 prison officers called in sick," but he said, "it did not affect the day-to-day operations of any of the prison systems."
Young said the prison executive had put contingency plans internally, "so there was no need for external assistance," even though he had assured that if it was required help would have been provided.
He said he had seen "the very emotional outburst," and questions about what was being done to protect prisons officers in reference to the news conference held by the Prison Officers Association when they accused the State of not caring about them and signaling that many of them were ready to resign.
Young said he understood that emotions "ran high" on Wednesday after the "very tragic" murder of one of the officers' colleagues who was killed. "It will affect you," but he said the systems are running and will "be strengthened over time."
He assured there are a number of initiatives in the pipeline that "should come into play shortly."
He said every week he meets with heads of security and "we have very open discussions." He said the second item on the agenda was the prison system because "a few weeks ago we put an inter-agency plan in place so I wanted an update on what is going on in the prison system."
Young told the media discussions with other heads of national security on "plans and specifics to deal with the prisons" are ongoing.
Young, who has been praised by prison officers for visiting their facilities twice since assuming the portfolio, said he said he had been in contact with the Prison Officers Association and the executive and immediately following the murder of Francis and asked association president Ceron Richards when he can meet.
But he said Richards informed him on Wednesday that "things are very uncertain," and at the time they spoke Richards had not gone to MSP. Young said he told Richards he can "come Tuesday next week."
Told that the association had expressed concern at the timing of the visit almost a week after the murder, Young said he had "volunteered for the meeting," and had no problem "going to talk to any prison officer, at any level, whatever," to hear what they have to say "and work to solutions, but the truth is there is no flick of the switch solution in the circumstances."
Asked about rogue elements in the prison, Young admitted that "there is no burying of heads in the sand, there are rogue elements," pointing out that within recent times some prison officers had been caught and charged, "if there are corrupt elements in the prison service," he said "let's find them and root them out."
That same mandate has been given to all heads of different arms of the country's security services the fire, police, Defence Force.
"I have had that conversation with them, the Prime Minister as head of the National Security Council has had that conversation with them, "if there are corrupt elements and you need to weed them out, go ahead and do so," he said assuring they had the full backing of the Government to do so.
On the issue of calls by the prison officers to be issued with firearms, Young said that conversation "was already in train," but he did not want to divulge specifics saying "in national security matters you always balancing how much information to put out there because you dealing with criminal elements."
The conversation about weapons, he said, is not only the granting of firearm licences but officers who are off-duty carrying weapons.
Young also said the issue of housing raised by the prison officers is an on-going discussion.
Since the start of October, two prison officers have been murdered outside of the homes Acting Superintendent Wayne Jackson and Francis.
Asked if the relatives of slain prison officers would benefit from the million-dollar compensation initiated by the last government, Young answered in the affirmative, "prison officers do fall under that policy."
But could not recall "how we define in the line of duty." Because he has a part to play in the determination of the payment Young declined to say more "at this stage."