The Pointe Blanche prison. (File photo)
POINTE BLANCHE--Persistent absenteeism from “frequent flyers” (frequently absent employees) is one of the primary causes of staff shortages at the Pointe Blanche prison.
Of the 64 persons who are employed as prison guards, 43 are deployable. The remaining guards are on long-term sick leave or have been transferred to other departments over time, Justice Minister Anna Richardson said during the continuation of a meeting last week in response to questions from independent Member of Parliament (MP) Christophe Emmanuel, who, along with other MPs, asked about the issue.
Of the 43 deployable prison guards, 24 are deployed at the Pointe Blanche prison, 11 are deployed at Miss Lalie Youth Care and Rehabilitation Center (MLC) and eight are deployed at the police holding cells. Richardson said these persons are then divided into three to four shifts per day, depending on the facility. She stressed that guards utilising sick leave does negatively impact the ability to man the prison.
In response to a question from United Democrats (UD) MP Sarah Wescot-Williams, who asked for a clear overview of the current issues with respect to staffing at this moment, Richardson stressed that the Pointe Blanche prison has long suffered from structural understaffing.
“As you know, the shortage of staff is caused by persistent absenteeism. On the one hand, it is largely determined by the long-term sick employees as well as the frequently absent employees termed the ‘frequent flyers’ On the other hand, the understaffing is determined by employees working elsewhere within the justice chain, as prison guards have been transferred to other justice departments,” explained Richardson.
“The employees concerned all come from the formation and budget of the prison without any compensation and adjustment in the formation. The years of structural understaffing take a heavy toll on the remaining and incumbent staff, resulting in extra overtime, (over)fatigue, insecurity for staff, absenteeism, physical and mental weariness and more.”
In addition, Richardson continued, apart from the high absenteeism rates, the guards all received different levels of training. After 10-10-10, there have been two groups of guards that followed a training, both that did not fully complete the training administered.
“This presents a challenge as well, as the guards are not all trained to take on the tasks at hand. The type of inmate has also drastically changed over the years, with younger, more aggressive inmates that are incarcerated for more heinous crimes. This also requires a different skill from prison staff. …
“The prison guards are now undergoing training which will serve as a starting point for all guards. They will acquire the same level of skill and knowledge and will be able to execute their tasks with more confidence,” she said.
On the issue of placement pertaining to prison guards as well as the general issue of placement for the entire Ministry of Justice, Richardson said the placement process for the Ministry of Justice is underway. The employees can expect their offer letters with regard to this within the coming weeks.
She said in response to another question that overtime payments to employees at the prison are paid on a monthly basis. Once an employee has worked overtime hours, it is controlled by their supervisor and then sent to the financial controllers to be paid out.
United People’s (UP) party MP Rolando Brison said he was very concerned about the situation with guards and asked Richardson whether she had considered discussing with Social and Health Insurances SZV the AVBZ provision for long-term sick leave.
Richardson responded: “Yes, these efforts have been underway with the services of Medworks who carries forward assessments that are not available under the service umbrella of SZV. As previously mentioned, an exercise to legally and structurally address this matter will commence directly after the placement process.”
