Black Immigrant Daily News

POINTE XPRESS: As correction officers continued their protests at His Majesty’s Prison for a second day, Minister of Public Safety, Steadroy Benjamin, said work is being done at the detention facility to address the concerns of the officers.

While he admitted that the work may not be progressing at the speed the officers may wish, Minister Benjamin said on Tuesday that his ministry is collaborating with other government agencies to improve working conditions at the prison.

And while he did not minimise the legitimacy of the officers’ concerns, he expressed his belief that their disgruntlement was really rooted in the recent security changes at the prison.

“There are conditions which need to be addressed and are being addressed at the moment. Maybe they are not being as readily as they should, but you’ve got to work along with the Public Works Department and the Ministry of Health, and those issues are being addressed, but I dare say, I have been informed, and I do well believe, that all this matter springs from what’s taking place with respect to security within the prison walls,” said Benjamin.

He continued while the construction of a new prison facility would be an ideal resolution to the concerns over infrastructure at the prison, this is not possible at this time, therefore, the government will continue to make strategically implemented improvements.

“I am satisfied that things are being done in the interest of the security of the prison, and I am also satisfied that things are being done to improve the conditions within the prison walls. More can be done, more will be done, but it’s being done in a structured fashion to make sure that we deal with this matter effectively.

“We can’t build a new prison at this particular point in time; the world economy makes that a problem. So, what we’re doing is to fix what we have as best as we can to make certain that we meet the minimum standards of the international regulations and stipulations for prisons,” Benjamin continued.

Meanwhile, the prison officers have said that they intend to continue their protest until a commitment is given to resolve their issues.

They are also now demanding an audience with Prime Minister Gaston Browne in which they can air their grievances.

Their list of concerns includes receiving a promised raise in pay, an immediate improvement in the overall cleanliness of the institution, including its bathroom facilities. They also have complained about how senior members of the prison’s hierarchy treat them.

There also seem to be tensions between the prison officers and the police who have been called in to beef up security at the institution after an alarming increase in contraband items.

The prison officers have accused the police of being rude and difficult to work with.

In recent months, items including mobile phones, drugs, and other illegal items have been found in the possession of inmates and some corrections officers who were discovered smuggling the contraband into the 287-year-old prison.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

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Erla Christopher, acting deputy police commissioner. Photo by Marvin Hamilton

ACTING commissioner of police DCP Erla Christopher has said applicants for a certificate of character (CoC) will have to wait about three weeks to receive the documents.

In a text message to Newsday on Wednesday. Christopher said, “The system is up. Within three weeks outstanding applications will be processed.” Newsday asked if the police service (TTPS) was accepting fresh applications for CoCs or whether applicants should wait for the backlog to be cleared, and how the system had been fixed, such as an upgrade of software or hardware.

However, up to press time, we had received no further reply. Newsday was approached two weeks ago by a patient care assistant (PCA) seeking a certificate to accompany an overseas job application, after being laid off from the health sector, in which she had worked for the two years during the covid19 pandemic.

She told Newsday she knew of dozens of nurses and PCAs with jobs already lined up abroad, but who were now stymied by a lack of a certificate of character. On September 14, a police statement said the certificates could not be issued owing to an unspecified “system malfunction.”

The TTPS is working to restore the system, which has been experiencing technical difficulties for the past several months, to its optimal function. The police apologised for the disruption and said all possible efforts were being made to remedy the situation in the shortest time.

On Tuesday TTPS communications unit Insp Michelle Lewis had told Newsday the police were working feverishly to restore the system, and urged the general public to continue to check the police service social media pages and website for further updates.

She said individuals could still attend CoC appointments and then present the receipt as proof to relevant agencies.Lewis added, “When the system is back up and functioning, the CoC validity period of six months will commence from that time.”

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Black Immigrant Daily News

A constable attached to the Guyana Police Force (GPF) has died some five days after he was involved in an accident at Enmore, on the East Coast Demerara (ECD).

Dead is Constable Roger Clinton Bowen.

This publication was informed that the officer died on Wednesday at about 06:30h at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC).

Details on the circumstances surrounding the accident remain unavailable, and police have not issued a statement on the incident.

Nevertheless, INews understands that Bowen was involved in a motor vehicular accident on Friday last and was admitted as a patient of the High Dependency Unit at Georgetown Public Hospital.

He later succumbed to his injuries.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

The Arthur Smith Primary School is focused on educating their students of the importance of food security and agriculture.

This year, the school celebrated World Food Day on Monday October 17, with the theme “Local Foods, Endless Possibilities” with a variety of activities from the 9 am class start until 3 pm.

Speaking to Loop News, Acting Principal John Quinton narrated the day’s activities which parents were invited to take part in.

“Today, the students along with the parents have worked together. We had one particular item across year groups and, therefore, the students got a chance with their parents to work with that item. Let’s say it was a cucumber or butternut squash, they would create something healthy from that particular food and bring it into the school today for display and also we set up to get some assistance from farms and farming organisations to donate to the school so that parents too can purchase some of the local foods here at a reasonable price to also assist our school.”

The principal explained that aside from the commemoration of World Food Day, it was a part of the school’s personal mission to promote food security and engrain an appreciation for local produce among the student population.

“One of the goals of Arthur Smith Primary is to sensitize the students to the importance of food security and helping them to understand and appreciate the local foods and the possibilities that can occur. For example, our theme this year for World Food Day is ‘Local Foods, Endless Possibilities’ and the theme for Education Month from the ministry is “Promoting Quality Education Through Healthy Minds and Bodies” so we sought to blend the two in one this year by looking specifically at local foods.”

“We would have focused on vegetables, fruits, ground provisions etcetera so that the children can see and understand that these foods actually come from the field because many of the students associate food with the supermarket because that’s where they pick it up but to actually help them appreciate the role of the farmer and what actually goes in to making food available to all of us.”

Quinton further explained that the school also pays special attention to agricultural science by blending agriculture with their science program.

“At the school, we are also promoting agricultural science. We also have an agricultural science blended with the science program to create a little garden at the school so the children actually see food being produced.”

“We are also giving the children an appreciation of what is possible with food and that food doesn’t have to be bland. On Friday Creig Greenidge, a famous chef here in Barbados, he came in and he did demonstration with some local foods and so the children actually got to see real chefs in action creating food,” he added.

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