Gun posts, lights for Camp St jail -in wake of daring break out By Patrick Denny Stabroek News October 4, 1999 Gun posts, perimeter lights, and the activation of dormant surveillance cameras are measures to be put in place following the dramatic escape by four convicts from the Georgetown Prisons on August 29. The measures were recommended in an interim report submitted to the Home Affairs Ministry ten days ago by the Board of Inquiry that was set up to probe the flight to freedom by the four prisoners. Home Affairs Minister, Ronald Gajraj, yesterday confirmed receipt of the report by his ministry and he said that his officials are preparing a brief on it for him. He told Stabroek News in a telephone interview that the recommendations are being actively considered for implementation and that they addressed the issue of improving security at Lot 12 Camp Street. A final report from the Board of Inquiry, Gajraj said, was due to be submitted shortly and would also address the recommendations in the interim report. While saying that he was unable to detail precisely the measures recommended in the interim report, Gajraj said that these included the establishment of gun posts, the installation of perimeter lights and the activation of the surveillance cameras. Also recommended too, was the improvement of the water supply. Stabroek News understands that activation of the cameras could be done as early as mid-week as the Guyana Power and Light company was due to complete the necessary connections in another day or so. Also recommended was the reinforcement of the perimeter fence and the wire topping it. Businessman Peter Willems, who is chairing the Board of Inquiry, told Stabroek News yesterday that the measures were intended to improve the security of the prison in the short term and other measures for the longer term were to be included in the final report which is to be submitted at the end of the week. He declined to go into details about the measures but said that they would be apparent to the public when they are implemented. In the August 29 prison break out, murder accused, Maxwell (Lunkie) Melville, and convicted prisoners Martin Justin, Keith "Egghead" Thomas, and Henry Valenzuela, fled by scaling the fence at the John Street side of the prisons and driving away in a waiting car. It is believed that they then drove to the east coast seawall where they escaped in a waiting boat. Stabroek News was told that while in prison Melville had had access to a cellular phone. Observers say the getaway was a carefully crafted scheme executed to precision. The four are still at large and have been described by the police as being armed and dangerous. The surveillance cameras though mounted many months ago at the prison were inoperative. They had not been hooked up since they were installed after a spate of disturbances at the jail. The vehicle in which it is believed the four got away was found abandoned near the Sea Wall and is still reportedly in the custody of the police. The driver of the car reportedly also turned himself into the police. Security at the Georgetown Prisons has been a source of concern for some time, particularly with the heavy overcrowding and the presence of a large number of prisoners on remand accused of violent crimes. A number of guards at the prisons who were detained by the police after the break out were interviewed by the Board of Inquiry. A © page from: Guyana: Land of Six Peoples