Notice

THE ARMADALE catastrophe is not only shameful, but is a reflection of how the Department of Correctional Services, supervised by the Ministry of National Security cares for youths in their custody.

Atrocities of custodies in our correctional facilities are not new. This nation can recall the many scandals: prison HIV crisis with the subsequent massacre of 16 inmates post the ill-advised suggestion of issuing condoms, the languishing of hundreds of mentally ill inmates in prison, raping of inmates, inadequate correctional health services, and juveniles in adult prisons.

Mr Editor, you should recall, also, prison beatings at the St Catherine Adult Correctional Centre in 2000. This, initially, was kept as a secret by correctional authorities before I discovered the mockery made of true humane institutional care. Over 400 prisoners were brutally beaten by warders and soldiers with batons and electrical wires, yet prison administrators were reporting a mere disciplining of 150 unruly inmates. The then Prime Minister, P. J. Patterson sent in investigators, whose faces, I vividly recall, were frozen with shock as they viewed floors full with fractured inmates resembling 'prisoners of war' .

They all remained

The commission of enquiry into the prison beatings is now history, but what have our prison lords and the Ministry of National Security learnt? Have the commission's recommendations been implemented or was anybody found culpable? No! They all remained in their jobs.

Here, again, our ill-fated Department of Correctional Services is caught in another dilemma, the Armadale fire. This is another scapegoat commission of enquiry, as the blame game tactics are being played out, as the lacklustre management of the Correctional Department and neglect of its custodies, troubled youths, is being highlighted again.

Apart from rights groups - Jamaicans For Justice (JFJ), and Hear the Children Cry, and a few media persons, it is clear that many Jamaicans are not concerned about these crises as some will always believe wards and inmates 'deserve what they get'. Thanks, particularly, to Susan Goffe of JFJ for her informative regular reports on the enquiry.

As the Department of Correction's administration remains in denial, their mother ministry seems , as always, blind and comfortable with lies: lies of 'we are managing and everything is under control'. With lying prison managers, the Armadale fire was not surprising to me. It was simply another explosive consequence expected from a continued failure of leadership within the prisons. When will it end? Like so many government-run institutions the first order of business for most managers is job security. Hence many become visionary failures and habitual liars from the truth while some seek 'political' protection.

The department knows

Theories of how the Armadale fire started may be important. But more interesting is that the department knows of the horrible conditions that existed long before. The fact is correctional officers are not trained to manage youth crises. The grossly inadequate psychotherapy sessions offered most times by part-time psy-chiatrists or psychologists equal zero or offer little to these distressed teenage females. Was there any medical officer aware of the prolonged lock down at Armadale and any possible public health hazards. The truth is programmes for managing youths in juvenile facilities do exist on paper and most times are inadequately implemented.

Again, I plead that effective leadership is needed for the Department of Correctional Services. Our local financial institutions employ very qualified personnel, thus promoting successful management. This should be a practice adapted by the Ministry of Security. Gone are the days when persons are given top posts within this department because of merely being militant or have given long service. As civilisation improves with technology, so does the risk of juveniles/inmates becoming more high tech. Hence the managers of correctional facilities should be armed with the requisite managerial capacity. Mr minister, a massive shake-up is needed, at least, when appropriate personnel are acquired.

Dr Raymoth Notice is a former prison doctor.