Pulchan: Tobago Correctional Facility to be made a prison

Prisons Commissioner Dennis Pulchan says the Tobago Correctional Facility on Glen Road, which was supposed to be a quarantine facility for inmates, will now be used as a prison.

He made the statement on Friday during a tour of the Glen Road facility.

The building was used previously by the Department of Marine Resources and Fisheries.

Pulchan said the correctional facility will house inmates from the Scarborough prison.

“It is our intention to move the inmates to this facility so that we can use the existing Scarborough prison as a quarantine facility, so that we can have inmates come to the facility, do a screening of 14 days and, provided they have no flu-like symptoms, then we transfer them to this facility to serve the remainder of their sentence,” he said.

Last month, some 14 prisoners and five prisons officers at the Scarborough prison tested positive for covid19 and were quickly moved to the Claxton Bay Correctional Facility for treatment.

Pulchan said so far, the Glen Road community has responded positively to the move.

“I can safely say that the prison is so designed that it does not give you the view of a prison. It does not look like a prison, but a normal dwelling house.

“Inside has been retrofitted so that we can have a secure environment to hold our inmate population.”