Caption: Stuart Young. Photo: T&T Parliament
By Sue-Ann Wayow
FICTITIOUS.
This is how former national security minister Stuart Young is describing Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s statement that he placed all the high-risk prisoners together in building 13 with no separation, allowing them to join forces.
On Monday during an Extraordinary Sitting of the House of Representative at the Red House, Port of Spain, in discussing gang activity within the prisons and the notorious building 13, Persad-Bissessar said, “It was under MP Young as minister of national security that the PNM came up with the foolish idea of putting all the gang leaders together in one building where they ended up joining forces. Before that, they were held separately.”
She added, “The criminal syndicate we are now battling was formed due to the PNM and MP Young’s incompetence; the country has them to thank for what must be the worst mistake in the history of our national security.”
At an Opposition press conference held on Tuesday at the Office of the Opposition Leader, Charles Street, Port of Spain, Young sought to clarify the original concept of building 13 and his role as minister at that time.
Young said the concept of building 13 was conceptualised by him, along with collaboration from the former Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith, the Chief of Defence Staff, the head of the SSA and the Commissioner of Prisons.
All of whom, he added, were in support of the utilisation of building 13.
He said, “Building 13 was an empty building and at the time, the same thing you are hearing the government complain of today with these nefarious leaders and they were meeting together in yards, etcetera. There was a need to separate them. And 13 was identified and building 13 was identified because it was empty, it was sterilised.”
Young said, building 13 “had a concept of utilising defence force personnel on rotation masked as well as police on rotation masked so at no point in time could the prisoners know who they were and they were rotated so no relationships could be formed and a prison officer, because the prisons are under control of prison officers.”
Again, he reiterated, the Commissioner of Prisons and all other stakeholders agreed with the concept and security protocols of building 13, which was designed to prevent the gathering, communication and bond forming among high-risk criminal elements.
Young said, “And it worked for a time. Unfortunately, as I said, all a government can do is introduce policy. And again, within a matter of a week or two weeks of utilising it, the government received pre-action protocol letters from those who were incarcerated in building 13. Saying that their rights were being infringed and it was all solitary confinement, which went nowhere, because at the time it was properly carried out.”
He said while the security protocols had worked, a decision was made by the prisons to discontinue them, allowing for the gathering of prisoners and the identification of guards.
Young said as minister, all he could do was give directives for implementations, but the prisons are under control of Prisons Services and the Commissioner of Prisons and it is up to them if they wanted to continue with the protocols or not.
Returning to the prime minister’s statement, which he felt alluded to him placing high risk prisoners together in free for all environment, he said, “It is very very fictitious for the prime minister to come and say what she did yesterday and try to lay that, but I understand it, the personal attacks that is her way but I am sure that if you go to the CoP at the time he will tell you much more on what it was the concept of building 13 and how successful it was until unfortunately those in charge of the prisons decided to do otherwise.”
