Benn urges Mazaruni inmates to have ‘better ambition, behaviour’

Minister of Home Affairs, Robeson Benn has called on inmates at the Mazaruni Prison to take every opportunity to be rehabilitated as works are ongoing to improve their living conditions.

The minister made the call during a visit to the facility on Friday to assess the new prison block, the Prison Service said in a press release.

Benn was accompanied by Director of Prisons Nicklon Elliot, Deputy Director of Prisons Kevin Pilgrim, Regional Commander Dion Moore, technical teams from the ministry along with other staff members from the Prison Service.

According to the release, Minister Benn noted that while the government will continue to promote the rehabilitation and social reintegration to those incarcerated, the inmates at the same time must have “better ambition, vision and behaviour.”

“We must make provision where those who are in prison must have hope beyond the walls and when leaving the prison, they must be successfully reintegrated into society,” the Home Affairs Minister was quoted as saying in the release.

He further noted that the prison system, as well as society, must view inmates as people who could have the ability to better themselves and become productive citizens.

Meanwhile, according to the release, final touches to Phase One of the new state-of-the-art Mazaruni Prison is progressing.

With most of the logistics in place, the entire facility will be in operation shortly and will address the issue of overcrowding of prisons across the country. It will accommodate some 220 prisoners.

According to the release, the Prison Director noted that the new prison will improve security, welfare and accommodation for prisoners. It will aid in adequately segregating prisoners based on their offence and length of sentence.
The new facility is also in keeping with international best practices.