Draw the line, prison officers warned

By Anesta Henry

Warders have been advised that prisoners are not their friends and they should think twice before engaging in illegal activities that put national security at risk.

Minister of Home Affairs and Information, Wilfred Abrahams, who issued the warning to the officers told them that they should not allow themselves to be accessible to criminals, compromising the integrity of the Barbados Prison Service.

“Your aim is to be as straight as an arrow. We cannot allow our national security to be compromised by leaks, by infelicities, by illegal behaviour on the part of prison officers,” he said.

The minister also advised the officers that prisoners are their wards and charges until they have finished serving their sentences.

He said: “You must draw the line. There must never be any confusion in relation to anyone who is here as to where that line is and on what side of that line you actually stand.”

Delivering the featured address on Wednesday at a medals presentation for officers of the Prison Service at the Dodd’s Prison in St Philip, Abrahams however gave warders the assurance that Government is working towards addressing their issues and concerns.

Noting that he has ordered the management of the Barbados Prison Service to award officers for good performance, Abrahams said those who engage in wrongdoing will not be tolerated.

“I am a very fair person. I want all of you to reach your fullest potential. I want all of you to have every training opportunity that can possibly apply to you. I want each one of you to have the opportunity to advance as far as your skillset and your capabilities will take you, and I will push for it.

“But equally, anything happens in the prison that embarrasses the prison and compromises the security of our country, then I have no tolerance for that, zero tolerance,” he said.

Abrahams informed the employees of the correctional facility that at no time should they allow their names to be called in complicated dealings.

“When people are calling the names of people that if you want to get something done reach out to so and so, your name must never be in that. You cannot be responsible for what somebody else does.

“What you can control is whether you find yourself in that group or whether you will be that person that people point at and say ‘don’t even bother talking to he, he too straight’.

“I am talking to all of you and I am sure that each of you, when I am speaking, is thinking of a particular scenario or scenarios that my address is touching on. Apply whatever plan is relevant to you, if it applies to somebody else, listen to what I am saying, look at what is in your head, and know what is right.”

Meanwhile, Abrahams informed the officers that next year’s Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure will make provision fixes to the working conditions about which some of them have been complaining.

He also called on Acting Superintendent of Prisons DeCarlo Payne to implement a procedure for addressing all issues within the prison and the concerns of the officers.

“Mr Payne, I charge you to ensure that a proper procedure is put in place that the concerns of these men and women who have served the country well and served the prison service well, can be acknowledged, can be understood and can be addressed. Nothing short of that will do, to properly honour those who are in front of us today,” he said.

The minister also made it clear that prison officers must be prepared to advance their careers when the opportunity arises within the service through a system that is fair and transparent. (AH)