The Prisons Officers’ Association (POA) is demanding that Government address its concerns regarding PPE for Prison Officers as they continue to face the challenge posed by Covid-19 in the nation’s prisons.
At a media briefing yesterday outside the Golden Grove Remand Prison, POA president Cerron Richards said officers are demotivated and disenchanted and are also calling on the Government to pay outstanding overtime they say is owed to them.
Richards said “officers still come to work to advance the interest of the state, yet the state does not care about us when we have our issues.”
He added “the state continues to be derelict in its duties in treating with the interests of the service. There is a barrage of complaints from both officers and inmates regarding the situation they are in.”
Richards said the “Minister of Finance Mr Colm Imbert is still telling the country they are unable to negotiate because of the economy.”
But, he said the minister is “undermining the integrity of the negotiation process by not even coming to the table.”
The POA president said prison officers are paying out of their own pockets for medical items, even in the light of a serious pandemic. He also raised concerns about the state of the prisons vehicle fleet and the dormitories at the Golden Grove.
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