Caribbean News

Rehabilitation of prisoners a priority says Jamaican Minister

Published

6 years ago

November 14, 2017

#Jamaica, November 14, 2017 – Montego Bay – Minister of National Security, Hon. Robert Montague, says the Government is committed to the rehabilitation and redemption of incarcerated persons in adult penal institutions. Addressing a town hall meeting at the Everglades Centre in Parrottee, near Black River in St. Elizabeth on November 9, the Minister said the Government is gravely concerned that many inmates, upon release, find themselves back behind bars not very long after.

Mr. Montague pointed out that in order to address the challenges, the Government has beefed up rehabilitation initiatives in the seven adult prisons, introducing skills training such as furniture-making; food processing programmes, in collaboration with the HEART Trust/NTA, as well as literacy classes for those who are unable to read. He said the literacy levels of all new inmates are now assessed, and the game of chess has also been introduced in the prisons with the hope of enabling inmates to be better thinkers.

“The rate of return in our prisons is over 40 per cent. In other words, 40 per cent of the persons in our prisons were there before,” the Minister noted.

“We have to equip the prisoner with the skills to survive so he does not come back,” Mr. Montague said.

The Minister said a hydroponics system at the Spanish Town District Prison, which was donated by the College of Agriculture, Science and Education (CASE), is being manned by prisoners who have now used the technology to grow vegetables to feed themselves and their fellow inmates. He explained that under his regime, the approximately 3,500 prisoners on the island will have to undertake some of the responsibility to feed and care for themselves, instead of tax-payers being made to shoulder all the associated costs attached to their welfare.

“I have insisted as Minister, that the prisoners must produce at least one meal per week for themselves. And, today, they are now at two meals per week. The tax-payers of Jamaica must get a break,” Mr. Montague declared.

With respect to the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), the Minister said the Government is “investing heavily into the training of police officers”, as the organisation is operating way below strength, due to retirement and resignations outpacing the recruitment of new trainees to fill vacancies.

“The Jamaica Constabulary Force is operating at 70 per cent of its strength. The police lose an average of 500 police officers per year for the last four years,” Mr. Montague said.

“When you count all the training, we are only training 550 per year. And the Government has taken a very aggressive line, because this Minister believes that we must bring the Police Force up to 14,435, which is the establishment strength,” he added.

The Minister said the current strategy to increase the number of officers is in its early stages of execution, and will see 2,000 recruits being trained per year over the next three years at Harman Barracks in Kingston, Twickenham Park in St. Catherine and at the Mona Campus of the University of the West Indies.

Release: JIS

Caribbean News

STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATIONS EXPECTED TO ASSIST GOV’T PLANNING FOR CLIMATE CHANGE

Published

1 day ago

April 30, 2024

Shanieka

KINGSTON, April 29 (JIS):

Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Senator the Hon. Matthew Samuda, says the outcome of discussions arising from the Jamaica National Stakeholder Consultation on Climate Services and the 1st National Climate Forum (NCF-1) will assist in guiding the Government’s planning for climate change.

This, he points out, is important for climate mitigation as well as building Jamaica’s resilience.

“We look forward to the discussions that will, no doubt, take place. We look forward to the basis of planning for the Government to streamline its investments to ensure you have the tools that you need to better advise us, that the WRA (Water Resources Authority) has the tools to digitise its monitoring network, and that all of the agencies that touch our planning mechanisms have the tools. But we need to know what we are facing, and we’re guided by your expertise,” Minister Samuda said.

He was addressing the opening ceremony for the Jamaica National Stakeholder Consultation on Climate Services and the 1st National Climate Forum (NCF-1) at the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel in New Kingston on Monday (April 29).

Senator Samuda said given the fact that the climate has changed and continues to do so, investments in and collaborations on building Jamaica’s predictive and scientific capacity must be prioritised.

“Ultimately, we need to be able to assess our current climatic realities if we are to better plan, if we’re to insist and ensure that our infrastructure meets the needs that we need it to. I’m very happy that this event is happening… because this is a critical issue.

“Jamaica, last year, faced its worst and most severe drought… and this year, we’re already seeing the impacts of not quite as severe a drought but, certainly, a drought with severe impacts, especially in the western part of the country,” he said.

Principal Director, Meteorological Service of Jamaica, Evan Thompson, explained that the forum aims to, among other things, establish a collaboration platform for climate services providers and users to understand risks and opportunities of past, present and future climate developments, as well as improve inter-agency coordination of policies, plans and programmes.

Among the other presenters were Ambassador, European Union to Jamaica, Her Excellency Marianne Van Steen; Chief Scientist/Climatologist, Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology, Adrian Trotman; and Head, Regional Climate Prediction Services, World Meteorological Organization, Wilfran Moufouma-Okia.

The Meteorological Service of Jamaica hosted the Jamaica National Stakeholder Consultation on Climate Services and the 1st National Climate Forum (NCF-1) in partnership with the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology and the World Meteorological Organization.

The National Stakeholder Consultation is a governance mechanism that guides how different sectors or actors work together to create products that contribute to adaptation and resilience-building. It seeks to create a road map for the development and implementation of climate services to inform decision-making.

NCF-1 aims to bridge the gap between climate providers and users. It increases the use of science-based information in decision-making and operations with the aim of generating and delivering co-produced and co-designed products and services.

CONTACT: CHRIS PATTERSON

Caribbean News

Haiti- ECHO humanitarian efforts

Published

3 days ago

April 29, 2024

Shanieka

Rashaed Esson

Staff writer

#Haiti#Crisis#HumanitarianEfforts#ECHO, April 23rd, 2024 – Due to the worsening Humanitarian crisis in Haiti with an increase in death toll and injured people, The European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO), launched an emergency airlift of 5 flights carrying essentials which include up to 62 tons of medicine as well as emergency shelter equipment, and water and sanitation items. These were brought to Cap Haitien according to a report from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), on April 19, as the international Airport in Port au prince remains closed following the gang attack last month.

Caribbean News

Dominica repeals laws criminalizing gay sex

Published

3 days ago

April 29, 2024

Shanieka

Rashaed Esson

Staff Writer

#Dominica#LGBTQIA, April 24, 2034- Dominica has decided to remove colonial era laws that criminalized gay sex, joining Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, St. Kitts and Nevis and Antigua and Barbuda.

This comes almost five years after a man of the queer community, whose identity was withheld for his safety, spoke out against Dominica’s laws in 2019, saying they violated his rights.