On August 11, 2024, a horrible massacre occurred in a place called Cherry Tree Lane. What a pretty place it must be, one might think; but it is now steeped in blood. Through the mists of the hot air being blown around during the week or two after the killings, the question of a new prison gradually emerged – not for the first time. Why was that? Because it was asserted that the mass killing was orchestrated by someone from behind the prison walls, in collaboration with overseas interests.

How could this be, one wonders? Well, there is the perennial issue of corruption in the prisons, which confronts us time and again but is continuously papered over. It is one of the many “elephants in the room” in Jamaica that people would really rather ignore, because it is too uncomfortable to confront those pachyderms in a small space. Essentially, prisoners pay for privileges, items including cell phones are smuggled in, and so on. It appears that, over the years, little has been done to prevent this – even though the activities of some prisoners result in the deaths of others outside the prison walls. “Hits” are ordered. And as one prison warder said: “And it’s not just coming from the low down, the low foot of people, it’s coming from the high horses, too.” The high horses. What has been done to address all this? Not much.

The new prison issue came up some years ago, if you recall, when the then British Prime Minister David Cameron paid a quite controversial visit to Jamaica in 2015. He proposed that his Government would build a lovely new prison, to accommodate the Jamaicans who were taking up space in his own prison back home, and who would be deported at the end of their sentences anyway. This idea was not welcomed by many Jamaicans, but the then administration of Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller seemed to be considering it. However, was a Memorandum of Understanding signed at the time by National Security Minister Peter Bunting? Perhaps it’s been torn up, by now. Meanwhile, although our current political administration acknowledges the need for a new prison, Prime Minister Andrew Holness has suggested that there are not enough funds in the kitty for such a major project. Perhaps we should have taken Mr. Cameron up on his offer, after all.

So, I feel compelled to write about the issue of the current state of our prisons. It’s not a particularly cheerful story. Have you ever taken even a passing glance at the Tower Street penitentiary in Kingston? It’s a gloomy, tottering red brick edifice bristling with barbed wire and guard towers, sitting a stone’s throw from Kingston Harbour’s somewhat murky waters.

Most of us don’t look at it; we focus on the high rises of downtown Kingston, as we pass. In fact, sadly, many Jamaicans are not particularly concerned about what is within those prison walls, or who is incarcerated therein (unless they happen to be a dancehall star). As SUFJ’s Carla Gullotta pointed out, in general “people don’t have sympathy for those in conflict with the law, because Jamaica is an aggressive society.” Wrongdoers must be locked up, and the key thrown away.

OK, so prisons don’t have to be pretty places, just functional; and they must be secure. That is clear and obvious. Tower Street Adult Correctional Facility, to give it its grand name, was built to accommodate not more than 800 prisoners, but now holds at least 1,700.

For the human rights lobby group Stand Up For Jamaica (SUFJ), however, a modern equivalent of the grim Tower Street building is not the way to go. Any new prison must be designed with rehabilitation in mind; currently, access to educational opportunities behind bars is extremely limited, as SUFJ points out in its press release below. So much more could be done.

And the conditions are appalling, well below international standards. As SUFJ’s CEO Carla Gullotta noted in a recent television interview, “prisoners do not even have the space to lie down in a cell.” The infrastructure, she observed, “is falling apart.” After recent earthquakes, some parts of the Tower Street and St. Catherine prisons were found to be unsafe and were closed, increasing the overcrowding.

But, let’s face it: prisons – whether it’s improving the current dreadful conditions, rehabilitation, or building new facilities – have never been a priority. This sounds like more kicking the can down the road. The topic is already dropping out of the media radar. Again.

Again, though, the question is: Can we afford not to build a new prison?

Here is SUFJ’s press release, with more details:

Stand Up for Jamaica Executive Director Carla Gullotta is backing calls for the construction of a new prison, but is maintaining that greater emphasis must be placed on rehabilitation to ensure that all the necessary systems and resources are in place to facilitate the reform of all prisoners.

“A new prison is needed, but it depends on the type of new prison we are planning for.

If people are planning for a maximum security prison that can be an option, but the main thing that we should consider is that a new prison should be built, on standards which allow access to rehabilitation for all otherwise it is a missing goal…

Source: A new prison is needed for Jamaica, but rehabilitation is a must – Petchary’s Blog