The government is moving to have a Special Response Team in place to deal with prison unrests.  The move comes in wake of the recent prison riot which left 17 inmates dead.

According to Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan, the unit would have the capacity to handle all cases of misconduct that may arise in prisons across the country.

Mr. Ramjattan believes the new team of highly trained ranks would be able to make better judgment calls and be prepared to enforce discipline among inmates without a dependency on the Police Force.

Additionally, a new training structure for the Guyana Prison Service is being finalized which will see all recruits being trained at the Guyana Police Forces’ training schools.

The Ministry of Public Security recently mandated that this be done in an effort to improve the capacity of prison officers.

The Government is also looking at ways to improve the salaries and conditions of work at the Guyana Prison Service so as to attract and keep skilled personnel.

“Our prisons are tough places to work and sometime the more quality people do not want to go there,” Ramjattan told the Government Information Agency in a recent interview.

“If we don’t start investing in better recruits, their accommodation, their allowances, their salaries and all of that, we might have lots more riots on our hands, which will cost (us) in the long term, lots more,” he added.

The Government is also taking advantage of offers made by several international partners and agencies to train law enforcement officials, locally and overseas.

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