Trinidad and Tobago must rethink how it manages its prisons. If maintaining one inmate costs taxpayers approximately TT$315 per day, then housing 800 inmates costs TT$252,000 daily, or TT$91.98 million annually.
These figures raise a serious question: should the Government invite qualified private-sector companies to tender for the management of selected prison facilities, as is done in the United States?
Any proposal must be assessed independently to establish whether it would deliver genuine savings, improved security, better sanitation, proper healthcare and meaningful rehabilitation.
Contracts must include strict performance targets, six-monthly audits, transparent reporting and penalties for poor performance. The Government must retain responsibility for protecting inmates’ legal rights and ensuring public safety.
Taxpayers cannot continue spending hundreds of millions of dollars on a prison system without demanding measurable results.
Prison reform must be about more than locking people away. It must protect society, rehabilitate offenders and ensure that public money is spent wisely.
The time has come for the Government to examine alternatives and demonstrate that it is getting value for every taxpayer dollar.
Gordon Laughlin,
Westmoorings
