Home affairs minister says GIS and prison bosses only replaced to ensure no bias in ongoing probes

Minister of Home Affairs Wilfred Abrahams has made it clear that the move to replace the leaders of the island’s prison and juvenile correctional facility is not indicative of wrongdoing on their part.

He said the decision to place Superintendent of Prisons Lieutenant Colonel John Nurse and the acting principal of the Government Industrial School (GIS) Ronald Brathwaite on leave was simply part of a wider plan to improve the country’s system of incarceration and rehabilitation.

In an interview on Friday, the Home Affairs Minister explained the two were sent on leave to protect ongoing inquiries at the institutions from even the slightest presumptions of bias.

“This is not prejudging the outcome of the inquiry, this is not saying that anything has been found at this time in relation to either person or that anybody is guilty of any wrongdoing. This is simply a matter of protocol and propriety,” he told Barbados TODAY .

On Monday, Nurse went on leave and was replaced by DeCarlo Payne, while Barbados TODAY was reliably informed on Friday that Catherine Jordan was introduced to staff at GIS as the new acting principal.

Jordan, who is also chairperson of the Child Care Board (CCB), is based at the boys’ unit of the juvenile reform school, Dodds, St Philip.

When contacted, she referred Barbados TODAY to the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs who was unavailable for comment.

“Yes, it is true that the Superintendent of Prisons and the principal of the Government Industrial School are on leave. There is no mystery in that,” Abrahams confirmed.

“That is because a departmental inquiry is ongoing into both facilities and, obviously, as a matter of protocol and to assist with the smooth running of the inquiry or to remove any suggestion of bias or influence, it is necessary to remove the persons at the top of those institutions to be on leave,” he added.

The girls’ section of GIS has been at the centre of controversy for weeks, following an attempted escape at the institution which was followed by two successful escapes and numerous calls for the Barrows, St Lucy school to be closed down.

In mid-April, Abrahams said investigations into operations at the institution had shown no evidence of abuse. But two weeks later, following further scrutiny in the wake of the wards’ escape, he announced that there would be a full departmental inquiry expected to last six weeks.

The Minister also promised a wide-ranging inquiry at Dodd’s. At the time, he spoke of complaints about the recruitment processes, promotion processes and the treatment of staff at the St Philip prison.

On Friday, Abrahams said the leaves of absence of Brathwaite and Nurse were facilitated by the Ministry of the Public Service to guarantee a “full and fair inquiry so that we could get to the bottom of everything”.

“In the initial press conference, there were some complaints in relation to the prison and it is just an opportune time, as we are dealing with the Government Industrial School, to actually look into all aspects of the prison to address those complaints.

“At the end of the day, this Government is about reforming what people perceive as our penal institutions. The philosophy behind the Government Industrial School and what informs the creation of our prison, those philosophies have changed, we have modernised our thinking and we need to get with the programme,” he added.

He said the ultimate intention is to implement the best possible practices and operating procedures as a model for others to follow.

“We are deconstructing and reconstructing so that at the end of the day, recommendations can be made and going forward we have institutions that are best catered for the purposes for which they were set up,” the Home Affairs Minister said.

“We are looking at a parole system, we are looking at electronic monitoring as an alternative to incarceration and remand, we are looking at rehabilitation of offenders. We are looking at all of these things. It has been made clear from the very beginning, we keep saying it.

“A lot of things are in train right now and these investigations allow us to get to the bottom of everything, to view everything with a clear picture, to decide what is the best way forward and the way to put things in place seamlessly, so that we can move to that,” Abrahams added.
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