On Monday night, during a televised exchange with journalists at the British Colonial Hilton hotel, Prime Minister Perry Christie alluded to the appointment but fell short of revealing the name of the candidate even when pressed by the media.
“It would not be fair to the process, it would not be fair to the Minister responsible-my Deputy Prime Minister. It would not be fair to those who occupy the positions they hold in the prison now,” Mr. Christie said.
The Prime Minister said that he believed that “without question” there has to be a change of leadership at the Prison.
He pointed out that the issue must be approached with great sensitivity due to the nature of the Public Service.
“I believe that there ought to be somebody who symbolizes all of the progress that would be made with change. Someone who is especially trained for the subject and someone who has in fact identified with the vision for change and I believe we have such a person in our midst,” Mr. Christie said.
He added that the person has been involved in the implementation of what has been a “wonderfully productive” [prison reform] commission.
Mr. Christie reiterated the need to reform the present prison service.
“When you have a prison system where you are producing criminals; where you are manufacturing criminality because the recidivism rate-people going back to prison- is going towards 70 percent…then you are compelled to address that subject matter because it is a danger to all of us including the industry of tourism,” Mr. Christie said.
Dr. Rahming, a well-known criminologist presently serves on the Prison Reform Commission as Chairman.
The Commission focused on 12 specific mandates, which include determining the precise socio-economic and criminal backgrounds of sentenced inmates at Her Majesty’s Prison; reviewing the adequacy of the physical plant and reviewing the manpower requirements in relation to inmate population.
In February 2003, the 14-member commission released a report of its findings on how to improve the prison system and to explore methods of rehabilitation of prisoners.
Some of the Commission’s recommendations included reviewing the healthcare needs of the prison population, expanding the Prison Service to become a corrections facility and also the construction of a court facility in close proximity to the prison eliminating the need to transport inmates on remand to the courts in downtown Nassau.
Julian Reid, The Bahama Journal
