According to Minister of National Security, the Hon. Wayne Munroe the Bahamas Department of Corrections does not meet international standards and is not conducive to rehabilitation efforts.

In a recent interview with ZNS News the Minister said, “we’ve passed an anti-gang legislation, yet if you go to the prison and you force four to six men to occupy a small space together without indoor plumbing and a bucket you’re almost forcing them into a relationship with each other.  And so the purpose of the anti-gang legislation is to dismantle these linkages in crime.”

Bahamian officials have been traveling to source appropriate materials for the construction of the new prison.  Another trip is planned for this week for the same purpose.  Munroe said, “what works in the US and Europe doesn’t always work in the Caribbean.  So having seen the facility function in Georgia, we now are wanting to see how it functions in British Guyana.”

The new prison will address many of the needed functions for prisoners.  “We’ve had a number of incidents with mentally challenged residents.  So there is going to be also a mental health unit.  Also added was a facility for there to be medical interventions.  When an inmate needs to be taken to the hospital depending on the status of the inmate sometimes whole wings of the prison have to be shutdown, provision was made for a clinic to deal with everything but the most serious cases.”

The new prison will be constructed at a cost of approximately $60 million.