Time for a First-World prison

THE EDITOR, Madam:

IT’S TIME that a prison of First-World standard is built in Jamaica, with the primary focus placed on the rehabilitation of inmates, no matter how long or how short their sentences.

Not because Jamaicans are serving time in a prison facility, for a crime or crimes committed, does it mean that their time there should be miserable, uncomfortable and, in some cases, unbearable. They are still human beings and they should be treated as such.

Imagine a prison facility with a football field, a swimming pool, a tennis court, and/or a badminton court. Imagine a prison with stateof-the-art computer equipment to facilitate teaching and learning. Imagine a prison with hundreds or thousands of books to facilitate and motivate the residents to read. Imagine a prison facility with furniture-making and welding classes, with all the tools necessary for the residents to learn, practise and produce outstanding furniture and/or metalworks. Imagine a prison facility with a room dedicated to teaching the residents to paint on canvas and to produce wood, alabaster, and/ or metal sculptures.

If/when prisoners’ sentences are up or if they receive parole, when they reintegrate into society, they would be more knowledgeable, as a result of their reading, and far more qualified to get jobs and, hopefully, one day, with government and/or privatesector support, start their own businesses.

Imagine a prison facility with a proper, comfortable area for the relatives and friends of prison residents to meet, once per week, for an hour, to talk and spend time together.

Jamaica should build its own prison, as opposed to receiving a handout from one or more countries to do so.

PATRICK GALLIMORE