Activists: Too much 'smartmanism' in prison programmes

Public relations officer of the United Prison Movement (UPM) Salim Muwakil is calling on the government to address wastage and corruption in prison programmes.

Speaking with reporters during a demonstration on the Brian Lara Promenade, Port of Spain, on Thursday, Muwakil said the current prison system was riddled with "corruption and smartmanism," as governments past and present had spent millions of dollars to feed and transport inmates using private companies.

Describing some large corporations as "superpredators" who benefited from the slow pace of trials, Muwakil pleaded with the government and the Chief Justice to do all that was necessary to hasten the pace of trials, warning that prisons were breeding grounds for criminals.

"These problems are not only affecting the inmates but it is also affecting the prison officers and the very infrastructure of the prisons, and who is benefiting? Who is supplying the food?"

Muwakil, who was involved in the 1990 insurrection, was also arrested and charged for a domestic matter in 2010, and recalled how he saw firsthand how damaging an environment prison could be.

"This is causing great harm and hurt to a lot of people. I was locked up in prison
and I heard how some young men were telling other young men how to break into different types of cars. We are breeding criminals in there
.

"But who is gaining? Who are the superpredators that are gaining from people being incarcerated for so long?"

Muwakil also urged the government to explore the possibility of using different labour programmes behind bars to rehabilitate and train inmates in different skillsets.

He also addressed a recent rift in the membership of the UPM and called on a "certain member" to apologise for cursing the Prime Minister and the Attorney General on social media.

He said while he understood the frustration of the activist, he did not agree with this approach, as such remarks, whether in person or online, were damaging to the group's objectives.

"Just because we were incarcerated at one point doesn't mean we are uneducated and classless.

"We want this particular member to apologise to the persons she insulted before she can be allowed to return to the group. We're not attacking her, but we didn't like her remarks."