Port of Spain Prison to be Decomissioned

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By Alicia Chamely

THE Port of Spain prison will soon be decommissioned.

This was announced on Thursday by Minister of Homeland Security Roger Alexander at the weekly post-cabinet press conference held at the Diplomatic Centre, St Ann’s.

Alexander called the decommissioning of the 268-year-old facility at Frederick Street a “historic” move.

Referring to the facility as an “eyesore,” Alexander said the prison had cost the government millions in damages for the breaching of prisoners’ constitutional rights. He said courts had long condemned the deplorable state of the prison

He said, “Rather than continuing to pay compensation to prisoners for breach of the constitutional rights by housing them in facilities that are subhuman and degrading, the government will save money and invest instead in a state-of-the-art prison facility.”

Alexander said consultations were held with stakeholders in and around the capital city, who all supported the decommissioning of the prison and the transfer of the prisoners.

Saying this move was long overdue, Alexander said the decommissioning of the prison would be done in four phases.

Alexander said the first phase would be transferring prisoners, both in remand and those convicted, to the Maximum-Security Prison at Golden Grove, Arouca.

Asked whether the Arouca Prison had the space to accommodate the prisoners from Port of Spain, Alexander said he had spoken to the Commissioner of Prisons, and there was space available.

He said no area had been earmarked yet for the new prison nor was there a timeline on when construction would start. Alexander said, at the moment upgrades were done at the existing prisons and from there plans would be made to move forward with the new facility.

As for the fate of the Port of Spain prison, which was built in 1757, Alexander said no decision had been made. He said the prison was sitting on a prime piece of property that could house any number of facilities.