As part of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) funded Support for the Criminal Justice System Programme (SCJS), Information Communications Technology (ICT) equipment totalling approximately $30 million was on Monday handed over to the Guyana Prison Service.
At a simple handing-over ceremony at the Ministry of Legal Affairs boardroom, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, SC, said the equipment will help to advance government’s rehabilitative agenda for the prison system, as well as assist with training all categories of prisoners in ICT.
The equipment will benefit the prison centres at New Amsterdam, Lusignan, Timehri and Mazaruni. It comprises 100 desktop computers, ten laptops, four wifi routers, four laserjet printers, and five projectors with screens.
The equipment is expected to facilitate educating the prisoners, creating and nurturing an environment conducive to rehabilitation and upliftment, so that these persons are better equipped to be reintegrated into society upon their release.
The programme’s core objective is the reduction of the prison population, but it also plays a seminal role in the creation and exploration of alternative avenues that advance government’s rehabilitative agenda. This agenda seeks to remove the punitive nature of the prison system, pushing for further reduction in recidivism through education and increased productivity.
