By: Precious Mills 
BASSETERRE, St.Kitts (Thursday 16th May 2018)-Officials at the Her Majesty’s Prison (HMP) this week were on the receiving end of donated by the rehabilitated equipment at an estimated cost of £$8,000 (pounds) from the European Union through the Regional Security System (RSS).

The ceremony was held yesterday (Tuesday) at the prison premises located on Cayon Street in Basseterre. The donated goods include computers, sewing machines and a saw.
The items were symbolically handed over to acting Superintendent of Prison Ashiela Connor by Director of Training with RSS Bryan Roberts.

Acting Superintendent of Prison Ashiela Connor while expressing gratitude for the tools, talked about the importance of investing in preventative programmes.

“The gifts that we have there is geared towards rehabilitation [but] I want to say and I want to challenge people that at this present time I think we need to shift a bit and shift towards prevention, and so I want to encourage partners now to look towards prevention and how we go about creating programmes that prevent the young people from coming to prison or getting involved in crime.”

He advised the EU and RSS to help in creating preventative programmes.

“I just want to thank the EU and the RSS for the kind donations of the gifts and I hope that my remarks would hold sleigh with them so that when they go back and they start to plan in terms of giving donations or doing whatever for St.Kitts-Nevis, we look at giving generously in terms of us creating programmes in terms of preventing rather than doing rehab for persons who are already in prison. We don’t want to be inviting people so that we have to rehabilitate them; we want to prevent them from coming to prison.”

Assistant Commissioner of Police Mr. Terrance James informed that the Regional Security System from its concept was a system that was put in place by the member states to work together for their common interest but as the years went on it has changed its name to the Regional Security System Training Institute.

He also shared that he was a member of the training institute from its commencement noting he was part of the Education Committee when it was changed to the Regional Security System Training Institute whilst adding “So I am a product of the Regional Security System.”

According to James, the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force has also been a beneficiary from the European Union informing that it has sponsored the command mobile unit that was part of the donation given to the Federation as well as contributing to building a new police training complex at Buckley’s Site.

He then labelled the EU as being a “very good partner to the Federation.”

James continued: “We have seen throughout the years that times and things have changed, society has changed and so, the RSS has been an institution that has been building capacity in the member states and so Her Majesty’s Prison is a new venture that the RSS has embarked on to have capacity building for the inmates at the institution and so these tools and equipment…will go a long way in rehabilitating the inmates at this facility.”

He supported O’Connor’s sentiments about prevention noting that programmes have to be put in place for such.

Roberts expressed hope that the donated items would assist in strengthening rehabilitation initiatives.

He also expressed anticipation that “the tools and equipment would improve the technical and vocational training conducted at the prison improve skills which can open greater employment opportunities for presently incarcerated persons once they return to society and enable them to achieve success in more productive sectors of the national economy.”
Roberts assured the Prison Superintendent that his comments about preventative programmes are noted.

Photo: (L to R) Assistant Commissioner of Police Mr. Terrance James; RSS Programme Coordinator Rhea Reid-Bowen; Director of Training with RSS Bryan Roberts; Acting Superintendent of Prison Ashiela Connor; Project Manager of the RSS EU to EDF (European Development Fund) Project Vernon O’Brien following the ceremony. (Spokesman Snap)