On Friday July 21st 2023, Superintendent of the Prisons, Kenrick Jean-Jacques appeared before Court to deliver the jail delivery on the Dominica State prison.
Notably, there are no inmates who are awaiting trials as well as no juveniles at the state prison. As per the report, there are 16 foreign nationals who are incarcerated, 3 inmates each from the countries of St. Lucia, St. Maarten, Haiti and Venezuela and 1 inmate each from Trinidad and Tobago, Italy and Columbia.
The report further revealed that the threat of the Covid-19 virus has dissipated as there are no active cases. Nonetheless, a quarantine facility has been constructed wherein new inmates spend a period of time before entering the general population. While visitation resumed in December, 2022, it was further suspended. Persons on remand may however be visited on Wednesdays and convicted persons on Saturdays.
The Superintendent shed light on a few developments such as an Animal Housing Program, a Buffer Zone, further housing for remands as there is a growing population, improvement of meals and the recruitment of 6 new prison officers.
Among the commendable developments, Jean-Jacques highlighted a few challenges such as a high number of persons on remand, the need to train officers to deal with mentally challenged individuals which now stands at 35 persons and the increased number of items being thrown out the fenced area.
Upon answering a question posed by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Ms. Sherma Dalrymple, the Superintendent spoke on the reasons for the recent protest in the maximum security block. According to Jean-Jacques, some of the key issues voiced by the prisoners were an improvement of the rules by which they are governed as well as the improvement of meals.
According to the jail delivery, there are 240 inmates at the prison, consisting of 237 males and 3 females. Furthermore, 36 males and 1 female are before the High Court while 87 males and 1 female are currently before the Magistrate court. There are 115 inmates on remand, of whom 114 are males and 1 female.
Nb: The picture shown is not in Dominica
