Prison to run under new regime |08 February 2010

This was said by the new prison superintendent Maxime Tirant, during a press conference at the Independence House on Saturday after meeting with representatives from the United Nations and European Union.

Also present were Environment, Natural Resources and Transport minister Joel Morgan who has been assigned the portfolio for the prison, Police Commissioner Ernest Quatre and adjunct associate professor from the Edith Cowan University’s school of law and justice Glenn Ross.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) programme coordinator Alan Cole, foreign and commonwealth officer Katharine Shepherd, French Ambassador Philippe Delacroix and British High Commissioner Matthew Forbes were also there.

Mr Tirant confirmed his willingness to improve the prison’s running along with help and funding from the European Union and other technical help.

Talking about the new regime, he said for starters screening will be done on all staff and visitors entering the prison and if anyone brings in illegal objects they will be punished harshly.

He added there will be a change in the inmates routine and a new programme is being developed with help from these international partners.

This will include more recreational activities to keep them occupied.
Mr Tirant said the government has taken a vital decision to reform the system and there is good cooperation from both inmates and staff.

“There is a shortage of staff at Montage Posee and many former prison workers who have resigned want to be recruited,” he added.

He confirmed that 15 mobile phones, six SIM cards and two drugs (hashish and cannabis) portions have been seized since they took over the prison.

On the issue of escaping prisoners, he said all will be done to ensure this does not become a nuisance as it has been in the past few months and proper measures such as better fencing will also feature in the new refurbishing programme.

Mr Morgan said he is satisfied with support from the international partners as vital reforms need to be done in the way the prison is being managed and also with its infrastructure.

He said we are on the right path and we will soon get a modern prison and to ensure the competence of staff we are going to do a psychological analysis of new recruits.

Mr Cole said there is a good team working there to bring the prison back to normality but now everything is calm.
“We have to develop an effective programme by providing professional expertise, funding and practical skills to improve security there,” he said.

He added they will train individuals in security matters and substantial amount of refurbishing will be done to make the prison safer for inmates and the people of Seychelles.

And this programme, which is being funded by the EU, will run for 18 months, Mr Cole said.
Mr Ross added that the intervention that has been put in place at the prison recently has been very effective and there was no tension there when he made his visit.

He said the new programme will establish a system to classify prisoners according to the level of risk they pose and their particular need which can be psychological or social.

“We are looking in the possibility of developing passive recreational activities and community work to keep them occupied,” he added.

He said they also plan to set up a high security prison with 40 beds for inmates with bad behaviour on the same compound but there is also the need for more staff.

The representatives got the chance to visit the prison which is being occupied by 356 inmates.
It can accommodate a total of 450.