Prison Board has first meeting

Since the beginning of the year, the Department of Corrections has certainly taken its fair share of criticism, especially after a series of stabbings on the compound, one of which resulted in a fatality. Trying to correct this image, a board of governors has been appointed to manage the affairs of the prisons. The board will deal with general conditions like overcrowding, security, and getting organizations and churches involved with the rehabilitation programs and the prison itself. At their first meeting Monday, Chairman John Woods appointed two committees, one to suggest punishments for minor offenses and another to look at privatizing the cooking, food supply and auxiliary services. As of Monday, there were over two hundred convicted prisoners waiting to be deported to their respective countries. In the medium and maximum sections there are four hundred and fifty Belizeans, with an average of one hundred prisoners in each of the four buildings.