Tuesday, January 19 - The Cabinet recently approved a financial package of $882,000 for emergency reform initiatives to be implemented at Her Majesty’s Prison at Balsam Ghut.
Of the total package, approximately $311,000 will be appropriated in the Territory’s 2010 Budget to cover funding for the recruitment of an additional 12 prison officers. Cabinet also decided that $571,000 should be spent to fund infrastructural improvements at the prison. These improvements will include reinforcement of the perimeter security fence, refurbishment of existing lighting on the compound, communication devices and the purchase of vehicles and a metal detector.
Cabinet’s recent decision is in pursuance of the mandate of the National Security Council (NSC) in April last year to implement a series of corrective measures to address the situation at HM Prison in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Culture’s prison reform programme. Two weeks later, on April 27, the NSC appointed a three-member prison review committee, headed by Mr. Lewis Hunte, QC, to review the state of affairs at the facility.
After careful review, in September, the NSC approved the committee’s recommendations which called for, among other corrective measures, improved security and strengthening of the human resources at the prison.
Government remains committed to taking the necessary steps to ensure that the environment at Her Majesty’s Prison is suitable for staff and inmates of the facility as well as conform to international conventions on the treatment of prisoners.
British Virgin Islands News