$30M equipment handed over to Prison Service to boost rehabilitative agenda

Aspart 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.

“This is only one component of our relationship with the prisons. We are working to improve mental health facilities within the prison structure. We are now more scientific, analytical and programmatic in our approach, and we are looking at these issues closer,” Nandlall stated.

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.

Research has shown that high rates of imprisonment are associated with prisoners’ return to crime upon release, and given the proclivities of Guyana’s criminal justice system to default to imprisonment to sanction crimes, government’s efforts are to address these concerns through more effective methods.

The AG said, “The prison service is a central part of the justice system and the way that things are evolving, there is now a movement away from punitive sanctions and a concentration more on rehabilitation of the individual in the prison system as well as exploring new concepts such as restorative justice.”

Further, the equipment

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Guyana looking to expand agri-business to boost food production

Guyana is gradually moving towards agri-business, as part of the government’s consistent plan to acquire higher levels of productivity in the agriculture sector.

The administration recently engaged India for potential collaboration to enhance the local food sector.

“We need the expertise from many parts of the world to transform these industries into agribusiness and with higher levels of productivity,” Vice President, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo said during a recent press conference.

He added, “We are hoping over the next few months that a lot of these specialists would be recruited and brought to Guyana to give a big boost to the agriculture sector and expand its productivity.”

One area of focus for collaboration is tissue culture, which allows for prove health outcomes associated with low and high complexity procedures, by expanding the capacity of strategic hospitals; (ii) extend coverage of diagnostic, medical consultation, and patient management services, inclusive of the country’s hinterlands, through Digital Health services such as telemedicine, electronic health record strategy and the strengthening and expansion of teleradiology, and teleophthalmology; and (iii) increase the efficiency of the public health system, by strengthening key logistic, management, and support processes and inputs such as supply chain management ( including expansion of warehouse capacity, and software and hardware for an electronic supply chain management system).

This investment will support the expansion of the capacity at seven hospitals in both coastal and interior communities, extend coverage of diagnostic exams and medical consultations, advance medical services, and increase access to a more efficient public health system. This project is expected to benefit over half of Guyana’s population including the indigenous community with interventions in all ten (10) of the

country’s regions.

Program To Support Climate Resilient Road Infrastructure Development

– US$117 MILLION the rapid production of high-quality planting material.

The general objective of the Project is to advance Guyana’s safe, efficient and climate resilient road and associated infrastructure. The specific objectives are to improve: (i) road service quality; and (ii) utility service, along the East Bank Demerara corridor through road and corresponding utility infrastructure improvements.

Guyana’s current nurseries are struggling to supply the necessary materials, but the vice president believes that with the help of Indian specialists and facilities, the country could see a significant boost in productivity.

Tissue culture allows for the production of millions of plants in a short amount