Up Front
H. M. Northward Prison Hometo the Mentally Ill
Ever since the Northward Prison was commissionedin 1981, it has been serving as a holding facility for the mentallyill, prison officials say; some because they were deemed by theCourts to be medically unfit to stand trial, while others becausethey are considered potentially dangerous and therefore a threatto the community at large.
According to Acting Deputy Director, Mrs Claira Range, this hasbeen so because "there is no other place on the island forthem;" that the really bad cases sometimes have to be sentabroad, mostly to Jamaica, for treatment.
While it has not been ascertained just how many such persons havebeen accommodated at the penal facility over the years, currentprison records show that for the longest while, the figure hasstood at three, one being 'at the Governor's Pleasure', a termthat is viewed in some quarters as being akin to a life sentence.The other two, it is said, have been committed for minor misdemeanourssuch as wounding and burglary.
They are attended weekly by a government-appointed psychiatrist,and are allowed to mix freely with the general prison population.They are also governed by the same rules which apply to the regularprisoners.
And, far from posing a threat to their fellow inmates, they aremore or less humoured and babied by the entire prison community,including staff, Mrs Range said.
"We don't find them a risk as such to the other inmates;they more or less look out for them. They are like babies; theyneed special care," she said. This special care, she noted,could entail seeing that that they shower regularly and that theytake their medication on time.
No paragons of virtue, she said, they do get up to the odd mischieffrom time to time, like doing things in the cell blocks that theyought not to do, such as fighting. But that is as far as it goes,she said. It has never reached the stage where one party was woundedduring a fight.
However, while on the surface things seem to be under control,this extra duty is beginning to put a strain on prison staff,Mrs Range said, as on a bad day, prison authorities are forcedto post a 15-minute watch on whoever it is that is acting up.
"If you know a person to be always jolly and all of a suddenyou see them begin to show signs of withdrawal, you more or lesshave to watch them," she explained.
Blaming their sudden fits of anger on home-sickness, Mrs Rangesays " they might be crazy but they know how long they arehere and that they want to go home."
All efforts to get a comment from the relevant government authorityabout the position of a proposed mental facility have thus farfailed.