Government officials have embarked on a drive of assessing Jamaica’s correctional facilities.

Zavia Mayne, state minister in the Ministry of National Security, who is leading the initiative, says visits to correctional centres in several parishes are aimed at making proper assessments of their current condition.

The latest visits to the New Broughton Sunset Adult Correctional Centre (Manchester) and the Diamond Crest Facility (St Elizabeth) on August 10 were carried out by Mayne; permanent secretary in the ministry, Courtney Williams, and Commissioner of Corrections, Lieutenant Colonel (ret’d) Gary Rowe, to assess the facilities and to discuss future plans for renovation.

The state minister said the tour of New Broughton was particularly “encouraging”, noting that the Ministry team was given an extensive look at the rehabilitation activities taking place and walked away “very impressed.” He cited several of the agricultural activities taking place at the facility, pointing to pig and chicken rearing, and the planting of cash crops… all involving inmates.

First-hand look at state of affairs

Speaking with JIS News, Mayne said, “these tours are important, as they do give us an opportunity, first-hand, to look at the state of affairs. It’s not only about the conditions under which inmates are held but also the conditions under which the staff must work. There is also an expansive banana cultivation work going on.”

The state minister advised that this was the first time the ministry team was venturing outside of the Kingston and St. Andrew area, and that the New Broughton and Diamond Crest Correctional Centres are but two of the facilities the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) will be looking at, especially since the successful rehabilitation of inmates is a critical part of the Ministry’s thrust as it relates to persons leaving prison and re-entering society.

He highlighted that while the Diamond Crest facility was not currently in use, a cost-benefit analysis will be done to see whether it makes sense to have it renovated and inmates can once again take up residence.

Mayne argued that it is in everybody’s interest that prisons do more than just be centres for incarceration, as oftentimes former inmates find themselves in a world very different from the one they left years before.

He pointed out that without a job, money or access, many former prisoners find it difficult to rebuild their lives, making them susceptible to ill-advised temptations.