Lot to consider before making a new prison

THE EDITOR, Madam:

I am writing with reference to the article, ‘New prison must be priority’, published in The Gleaner on August 31.

I concur that a new maximum security prison must be a priority along with a strong focus on rehabilitation, but Prime Minister Holness has to delay the construction of a maximum security prison due to budgetary constraints.

It is also going to be a challenge for the Government to build the prison, because the leader of the Opposition has to agree with the construction for a maximum security prison.

In 2015, the United Kingdom (UK) government proposed to provide £2.5 million to build a new prison in Jamaica, so that Jamaican foreign criminals in the UK could be sent home to Jamaica to finish serving the remainder of their sentences.

If the then Jamaican Government wanted to accept the offer, then they had to be an international prisoner transfer agreement (IPTA) between the two governments.

The UK Parliament prepares a list of the top 10 nationalities of foreign national offenders (FNOs) in England and Wales between 2019 and 2023. The list provides the number of FNOs (as measured at June 30 each year). This list was published on Wednesday, April 17.

For the above top 10, Jamaica nationals are at number six on the list. The total number of Jamaican nationals on the list covering 2019 through 2023 is 2,072. So up to 2023 the UK government has the Power to Deport 2,072 Jamaican nationals.

It is not only the UK government that has the power to deport Jamaican nationals, who have committed offences and are convicted, and sentenced. There are other countries. So when building a maximum security prison, all these situations have to be taken into consideration. .

The above information regarding the list can be found at UK Parliament, House of Lords Library, ‘Foreign national offenders in UK prisons: Powers to Deport’, published on Wednesday, April 17.

If Jamaica has a IPTA with UK, it would make it easier for the UK government to transfer most of the 2, 072 Jamaican nationals if they built a new prison in Jamaica. If Jamaica builds a maximum security prison at their cost, UK would use their power to deport more forcefully to transfer UK Jamaican nationals to this prison to finish the remainder of their sentences. When these nationals completed their sentences and are released to the communities, the government have to have funding to manage them in the communities.

The Government and the Opposition have a lot to discuss before building their own maximum security prison.

CARGILL KELLY