PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Sept 5, CMC – The Trinidad and Tobago government says it will decommission the Port of Spain Prison built in 1757 and will transfer all existing prisoners to the Maximum Security Prison (MSP) in Arouca, east of here.
Homeland Security Minister Roger Alexander, speaking after the weekly Cabinet meeting on Thursday evening, said that the decision was taken to decommission the 268 year old building, which has been condemned by courts as being unfit for housing prisoners.
“This facility has been reportedly condemned by courts, has been unfit for housing prisoners, and has cost the state millions of dollars(One TT dollar=US$0.16 cents) in damages for breaches of the constitutional rights of persons,” Alexander told reporters.
“When you come into Trinidad and Tobago, on arrival here, and you got to the city people take you to the prison. They often ask you, ‘You have persons in there?’ and the answer is yes,” Alexander said, noting that the building had become an eyesore.
He said the government will invest in a new, modern and state-of-the-art facility to house and rehabilitate the prisoners. He said the government has the support of the chambers of commerce and the business community within Port of Spain and will be done in four phases.
“The first phase will be, in fact, removing prisoners from Port-of-Spain to the Maximum Security Prison in Arouca, condemned persons and persons on remand, and we’ll continue doing that until the prison is no more.”
Asked what is the current prison population in the Port of Spain facility, Alexander replied “while we want to give you an exact figure, we would want to hold on that until a further notice, because we want to give you the correct figure”.
He gave no indication as to when the prisoners would be re-located , saying “MSP is a big area, you know, where it could take a lot of things, a lot of new infrastructure to treat a lot of situations.
“And we probably will be looking at that, although there are some other areas that we have located, maybe with the intention of treating with it in terms of prison and prison facilities.”
Alexander said that the Carrera Island Prison Facility could also be used to house prisoners.
The Prison Officers’ Association (POA)has welcomed the decision of the government, noting that while the Port of Spain facility holds historical significance, it has long been inadequate to meet the needs of the modern correction system.
“The association, therefore, views the move toward decommissioning as a necessary step. A step we have been asking for the last few years,” said POA president, Gerard Gordo.
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