The Chairman the Guyana Prison Service Sentence Management Board, Captain Gerald Gouveia, in his brief to the Senior Officers’ Conference opened his speech noting that, “too often we overlook the heroism and dignity of hundreds of the country’s prison officers.”
Gouveia, who is also the National Security Advisor to President Dr. Irfaan Ali, delivered a powerful and encouraging speech to the attendees of the Conference on January 28, 2022 at the at the Guyana Police Force Training Center Auditorium.
“As a key worker, you’ll work with a range of people and perform a variety of tasks – from keeping the prison safe and secure, to helping vulnerable people through a very difficult time in their lives. It’s hard work and its significance is undermined by negative outlooks”, he said.
Captain Gouveia, who is a veteran Airline transport-rated pilot with 40 years of service in the Aviation, Security and Tourism sectors in Guyana further added “The prisons system always seems to be the ugly cousins of the joint services and we need to fix that. We need to fix that in the way prison officers are seen and the way prison officers are compensated for the risks they face and good work they do”. Further, Gouveia, now a leading private sector proprietor, believes that prison officers are not given enough credit and appreciation for the work they do in keeping Guyana safe.
“The prison system is a very important component of our joint services because it’s a place where we rehabilitate people who have gone down the wrong line and the task you (prison officers) are given is very complex task. So, the work that you (prison officers) do is very important in ensuring that our society and communities are safe, especially after people have left the prisons. So, rehabilitation in the prisons is a vital, and that is where you play a pivotal role,” Gouveia stressed.
Gouveia went on to recount his experience on the GPS’s Sentence Management Board in the early 2000’s when prisoners were referred to as the nation’s “scavengers” by some local folks. He shared his experience and efforts to begin the Board’s promotion of improved conditions for staff and the reframing the image of prisoners so that policy makers can begin to embrace the true reason for incarceration. The Chairman noted the evident growth through massive strides that have been made in improving the conditions under which staff work and inmates are kept.
