Prisoners receive medical and dental treatment
More often than not when there’s news from the Prisons Department it’s bad, or at least it’s crime related. But positive things do happen at Hattieville, and there are people who are trying to make a difference in the prisoners’ lives. Today Hyacinth Latchman reports on an effort to provide much needed medical services, the formation of a committee to air the concerns of inmates and plans to make the holidays a little brighter for those who will be separated from their families this Christmas.
Raymundo Bautista, Medical Officer
“Since I came there, which is the beginning of this year, the prison has built an entirely new medical facility and has approved extra staff to work in the medical department along with a dentist. The prisoners can tell you that the level of the treatment they receive and the quality of attention is one that they are comfortable with.”
Bautista says the public should understand also that having a hospital at Hattieville reduces the chances of prisoners escaping since there is always an increased risk that they will flee if brought into Belize City for treatment at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital. The prison is also providing dental services and one dentist from Orange Walk who has been assisting those behind bars is Dr. Carl Meggs. He began visiting the prison three weeks ago and says the experience has been rewarding.
Dr. Carl Meggs, Dental Surgeon
“Well I got a chance to speak to the Attorney General. I understand that there was no dental service here. He asked me if I could come in one day every week to see twenty to thirty people. It would not do me any injustice from my post which is in Orange Walk.
From working in the military you learn to improvise. We have the basic things and it is getting better. We have two chairs and other equipment we plan to hook up. I figure by January, the end of January, we can do fillings and other dental work. But within next month we should be able to do just about everything.”
Meggs says that most of the dental equipment at the prison was provided by the Orange Walk Hospital. Besides medical treatment, there are a number of other areas the prisoners feel need improvement. To this end the inmates have formed the Inmate Concern Committee which works with the prison officials.
Wayne Moody, Public Relations Officer
“I meet with them every two weeks. We try to execute the concerns and look into them and solve them. The selection was made by the inmates themselves. We have inmates from max, medium max, and so on. As far as people who are bilingual specifically for max and the medium area, there is someone there to cover the people who are Spanish speaking.”
Joseph Gilharry, Committee Member
“We discuss about the problem behind at max. Concerning abusement, inmates fighting against one another, the need for the food to be fixed. The food is sometimes dirty and half-cooked. Many matters we pick up in the meeting. We have improved a lot since we start this thing.”
And this time of year there is also an activity to keep prisoners busy and engage their creativity. The youths are making Christmas cards with the help of volunteer John Evans and Gilvano Swasey of the Image Factory. If you are interested in purchasing any of the cards you can contact the Youth Enhancement Academy. Reporting for News Five, I am Hyacinth Latchman.
The inmates of Hattieville Prison will be attending a church service on December twenty-third. Following the service there will be a luncheon and then the inmates will be entertained by the newly formed Young Artists Association, YAA.
