As of today the Hattieville Prison is no longer a part of a government department. Kolby Foundation today formally took the reigns of the prison and in so doing the privatization of the prison has been finally completed. But as goes privatization, so to do staff members when the private entity begins to trim off excess baggage. This is exactly what is taking place and for a number of prison officers and other staff at the institution, they feel their future with the newly privatized body is uncertain. For the man named the prison's director, this is not the case, and he today told us that the only way to go for the prison is forward:
Errol Gentle, Director of Prisons
Unfortunately, I cannot speak for the Government of Belize and I can't speak for Kolby. Kolby now has a P.R. person in the form of Mr. Polonio. But as a prison officer, as an individual, what I can say is that we expect better. I do not expect that things will be worse. If I believed that this wouldn't work, I would not have signed on with Kolby. I personally believe and I think it's because of having had Mr. Woods working here, when I say working I mean assisting in the prison. I as a person, as an individual, as an individual prison officer, I am very, very optimistic and I believe that things will be better. The transition, a lot of the officers are signing up, and the officers, they have faith, they believe that things will get better.
Alfonso Noble
Are all the prison officers happy here, the way the transition is going?
Errol Gentle
Well, I wouldn't say everybody is happy and I still wouldn't say everybody is not happy. People were concerned, people were uncertain. As, once it's changes, ah mean, you need to change anything, and you have to have some uncertainty, so people were uncertain but they are understanding it now. This thing has happened. It is not the first privatized prison in the world. There are a lot of prisons that have been privatized, so we are hoping for the best, so yes, some people are a bit uncertain and they don't exactly know yet what to expect. People are coming in and still signing up and even those who are uncertain, most of them are prepared to come and sign up and work for Kolby. The persons who don't want to sign up, it is their right if they don't want to work for a private company or they want to continue or they want to remain in the employ of the Government of Belize, it is their right and I am just hoping that they can find somewhere else to put them.
Alfonso Noble
How long do you all anticipate this rough little spell that you are going through to last?
Errol Gentle
Well, I wouldn't say it's a rough spell either, okay. Well, I was out for the past couple days but since last week we have been talking to the officers, we had a meeting this morning and the Chief Executive Officer in the Ministry of Home Affairs was here. Mr. Marlon Skeen, who is the Chief Executive Officer for Kolby read the terms and conditions of service for the officers and I am satisfied, I am happy with the terms and conditions of service. So, I can see over the next couple weeks, Kolby is now fully in charge, but over the next couple weeks I can see all the little hitches and the differences I announced.
Alfonso Noble
Will the prison be a safer place to have inmates, will the prison situation improve?
Errol Gentle
It has to improve. The first thing Kolby is doing is increasing the staff. If you increase your staff and if you pay people a bit more, then they would be happy and they would perform their duties better. If I am paid more, I would be more happy. I am happy right now, I was happy working for the Government of Belize, but Kolby offered me the job to continue working as the director, and it's a job that I love and I will continue doing my job.
We today spoke to Michael Polonio, a member Kolby's board, who says that the prison is still in a transition phase. He says that to maximize on the institution's efficiency and effectiveness they'll be reviewing the employment status of all the employees and consider if they will be kept on. Polonio further said that Government has given assurances to prison staff that will be deemed redundant that employment alternatives will be found for them.