Prison officers agree to submit proposals to PM

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar's National Security Adviser met with members of the Second Division Prisons Officers Association to discuss several serious security concerns.

The President of the association, Rajkumar Ramroop, updated Gary Griffith on security issues, including the recent murder of off-duty prisons officers.

In the latest incident prison officer Reynard Parris, 23, who was assigned to the Remand Yard facility of the Golden Grove Prison in Arouca.

Police responding to a call found Parris in his car with a bullet in his head. They took him to the Arima District Hospital. He was treated there and transferred to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex in Mt Hope where he died.

Last Tuesday, Prisons Officer Jason Phillip and his friend, Steve Phillip, were shot and wounded outside the Larry Gomes Stadium in Malabar, Arima.

Griffith told the officers to submit all matters in writing to Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, who is the Chairman of the National Security Council. He told the association members the Prime Minister would treat their issue with the urgency they deserve.

The Association agreed to send the document to the Prime Minister.

In a media release Monday, Press Secretary Gavin Nicholas said Persad-Bissessar has promised that when she receives the report she will arrange a follow-up meeting with the Association to properly address the concerns.