Port of Spain Prison closure long overdue

Rhonda Maingot, co-foundress of the Living Water Community, has welcomed the news that the Port of Spain Prison will finally be shut down, calling it “long, long, long overdue.”

News of the decommissioning came from Homeland Security Minister Roger Alexander, who told a September 4 post Cabinet news conference that the prisoners will be transferred to the Maximum Security Prison.

He said the Port of Spain Prison was built in 1757 at a time when the prisons were referred to as a holding pen. Alexander said the prison has been deemed unfit for use and government will invest in a new modern state of the art prison to house and rehabilitate the prisoners.

Contacted for comment for Catholic News Altos’ September 12 programme, Maingot reflected on the Community’s decades-long proximity to the prison, located just a block away from their Centre of Evangelisation on upper Frederick Street.

“I remember 50 years ago, it was overdue at that time,” she said. “Being next to the prison like this, and always aware of what is happening and the pain and suffering of people in this prison, has been something for us.”

She recalled the trauma of executions carried out in the facility. “I think it was seven or nine people were hung right here next to us; we had an all-night vigil. So it has been traumatic at times being right next to the prison,” she said.

While welcoming the closure, Maingot stressed the importance of rehabilitation for inmates. “Rehabilitation while in prison is essential, including drug addiction programmes,” she explained. “We need a lot more energy so that we can help those in prison, when they come out, not to go back in.”

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