BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE population at Her Majesty’s Prison (HMP), coupled with the inadequacy of facilities, continues to be problematic.
This, again, was the information presented to Justice Francis Belle at the Basseterre High Court during the close of the September 2009 Criminal Assizes.
HMP’s Chief Officer Alvin Vasquez, in delivering the “jail delivery” report, indicated that at 8:00 on the morning of December 17, the prison population stood at 262; 40 at the Prison Farm in Nevis and 222 at the facility in St. Kitts.
Vasquez explained that there are no female inmates at the Nevis facility; however, 219 are males and three females are at the St. Kitts facility.
The Chief Officer told Justice Belle that of the 259 males, 137 were convicted at the High Court level, 62 at the Magistrate’s Court level while 31 are awaiting trail at the Magistrate’s Court level and 17 at the High Court level. He further explained that two males are awaiting sentencing, four are in prison “at the Governor General’s Pleasure”, one is a debtor and the remaining five are condemned or are said to be living on death row.
The HMP representative explained that of the three female prisoners, one was convicted at the High Court level, one is awaiting sentence and the other is a debtor.
Asked by His Lordship if overcrowding in the prison is still a problem, Vasquez answered in the affirmative. In July of this year, at the end of the May 2009 Criminal Assizes, the Chief Officer expressed similar sentiments, explaining that in some situations 14-16 inmates have to share a 16x8-foot cell fitted with double bunks.
Then, as explained by Vasquez, the prison population stood at 252 with 23 males residing at Russell’s Rest (Prison Farm) in Nevis.
According to the statistics, since then, the prison population has risen by 20 inmates or approximately four percent.
