Female inmates moved from Fort Augusto to South Camp

The Department of Correctional Services is to provide psychosocial support for some of the female inmates traumatised by Tuesday's relocation from the Fort Augusta facility in St Catherine to the South Camp Adult Correctional Centre, South Camp Road, Kingston.

"We have some of them resisting initially because this is where they have called home, especially for those who were there for a long time," Ina Hunter, commissioner of corrections, told The Gleaner.

Security risk

This is despite constant issues such as mosquito infestation whenever it rained and the threat of inundation whenever there was a threat of a hurricane. In addition, the isolated location created security risks for officers, especially those who had to walk to or from the institution to access public transportation.

Despite this, the uncertainty of moving to a more centrally accessible place was hard on some of the women, Hunter disclosed, adding that the Jamaica Constabulary Force provided much-needed assistance in transporting the fewer than 200 inmates to their new place of incarceration.

"For some, (Fort Augusta) is a different kind of ambience, given that it's beside the sea. It has a lot more space, and so even with the conditions that make it less than ideal, this, for them, was home. So they were resisting," Hunter said. "Now it is easy for relatives to visit them since they are more centrally located."