New dental clinic opens at Montagne Posée Prison |19 July 2023
The newly opened dental clinic
- Prison Service commemorates Nelson Mandela Day
By Sunny Esparon
The Seychelles Prison Service has officially opened a dental clinic at the Montagne Posée Prison Centre that will cater for both prisoners and officers.
The official opening of the Montagne Posée Dental Clinic took place yesterday morning during a ceremony to commemorate Nelson Mandela International Day, on July 18, which promotes the safe and humane custody of people in prison or correctional facilities.
The day, officially declared by the United Nations in November 2009, is in honour of Nelson Mandela whose birthday was on July 18.
The local theme chosen to commemorate the day was ‘Mental Health and Restorative Justice’.
When explaining the raison d’être of such a facility, the deputy Commissioner of the Seychelles Prison Service (SPS), Sam Dodin, stated it will not be solely for the use of the Montagne Posée prisoners, but rather, inmates from all correctional facilities.
He said at present, the officers have to transport prisoners to either the Anse Boileau or English River health centres.
“All of this costs us money and we need to have lot of the logistics in place. So, having the facilities over here at Montagne Posée, will definitely help us in our daily operation in terms of using less staff and less transportation to move the prisoners,” he stated.
The service will be operated by dentists and hygienists from the Health Care Agency.
The DCP explained that provisions were made for the staff in the past, however, due to the risks associated with it, the authority decided to discontinue the service.
There will now be better control over the number of inmates who will be accessing the clinic and different levels of security have been put in place. “These include in terms of the guards at the gates, there will definitely be better communication as well as greater control on how many inmates can be assisted at once.”
They will also have x-ray facilities to save them the trip of having to go to the hospital. “We do not have to move just for an x-ray,” said DCP Dodin.
Furthermore, the prisoners will not be handcuffed, while being attended to. They will also need to book an appointment.
The official opening of the clinic comprised the blessing of Father Yves, following a moment of reflection.
During the ceremony, there was also the presentation of three important memoranda of understandings; two of which were signed yesterday.
The first was between the SPS and the Ministry of Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment, to further collaborate in helping to manage the stray dog population, understanding that the SPS approach is a ‘No Killer Shelter’.
The principal secretary for Agriculture, Keven Nancy, and principal probation officer, Elsa Nourrice, came forward for the signing.
The ministry’s senior public relations officer, Linne Dubignon, explained that the memorandum will cover mostly the stray dogs in the Montagne Posée area.
“As the ministry, we took the initiative to partner up with the prison centre. We want them to meet us half way. We will cover the sterilisation and microchipping part and they will build a shelter for the dogs,” she stated.
“Earlier this year our ministry went through a bad experience with regard to stray dogs and we are knocking on the doors of our partners for assistance and we will continue to educate the public on the importance of sterilisation,” added Miss Dubignon.
Members of the public could eventually adopt the dogs.
Another aspect is the animals could also provide companionship for the inmates, helping with their rehabilitation.
The second MoU was between SPS and RECOIL Seychelles, whereby the SPS will recycle and hand over used oil to the company. It supports an initiative that started several years ago. The aim is to reduce the impact on the centres’ draining system and the environment. This will eventually deliver a revenue stream, which will go back into their account to further support inmate rehabilitation efforts. The document was signed by the director of RECOIL Seychelles, Paul Rouillon and DCP Sam Dodin.
Mr Rouillon stated there was nothing being done regarding the recycling of oil and therefore, his company approached the Commissioner of Seychelles Prison Service, Raymond St Ange, to propose that this could be a method to give back to the prison centre to finance the small projects they were working on.
“I am animal lover and since they were building an animal shelter, we decided that all proceeds will be reinvested in the animal shelter,” he stated.
RECOIL Seychelles exports used oil to various countries, where they are used as a sustainable bio-fuel.
The third MoU, which will be signed in March, will be another one with the Ministry of Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment, whereby SPS agrees to be part of efforts to rehabilitate wetlands and forests with GEF funding.
During yesterday’s ceremony, Commissioner St Ange also highlighted the various rehabilitative efforts being done by the SPS.
“What we are seeing is a lot of inmates coming in with a lot of issues and we have to get down to why they act in a disorderly manner,” he stated, adding “We need to rehabilitate inmates, but we also must rehabilitate the community, the families, families of victims, they need to heal.”
He also talked about the upcoming projects such as a brand new remand facility close to the courts to cater for young people, an aftercare facility set for 2025 for inmates who have completed their sentence but cannot go home and a new structure at the Bon Espoir facility, which will be used to maintain constant vigilance over the more violent criminals.
According to Mr St Ange, the Montagne Posée prison will be a low risk facility focusing on rehabilitation compared to the Bon Espoir facility, which will house the hard core criminals.
“There are a lot of good people inside who are inmates that comply and want to be better people,” said Mr St Ange.
“Those who mistake the Montagne Posée as a second home will soon learn something. And they will learn this at the high security prison where they will be managed differently, and eventually be welcomed back to Montagne Posee where they would continue with their rehabilitation,” he added.
Another point highlighted was training and development for SPS officers, in collaboration with the University of Seychelles.
Two inmates who are both parents, Thelma Cecile and Marcus Renaud, gave their testimonies on the importance of rehabilitation and its impact on their lives, as well as the mental and traumatic effects of being incarcerated. However, both have stated that they remain strong and urged the public not to be judgmental as they are trying to turn their lives around.
Photos by Yann Dinan
