By KHRISNA RUSSELL

Tribune Chief Reporter

krussell@tribunemedia.net

COMMISSIONER of the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services Charles Murphy said yesterday he has no reports of confirmed COVID-19 cases at the prison, as he hit out at concerns from correctional officers about their safety at the facility.

Mr Murphy also said correctional officers should not be speaking about the conditions at the prison outside of the proper authority and this could result in job loss.

This came after The Tribune was contacted by several correctional officers who raised fears of contracting the virus while at work. They said they were told that to come forward publicly would result in termination.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, these officers described the situation as a “crisis”, insisting their concerns - while reported to superiors - have fallen on deaf ears.

For the officers, reporting to work daily has become a “terrifying” task.

They have also questioned how social distancing is possible in a place where there is overcrowding.

Their concerns were sparked after they claimed two inmates were removed from a particular cell block and placed in quarantine, prompting suspicion from staff.

The officers said there is uncertainty and fear in the prison because the staff are still made to interact with the remaining inmates who were in close proximity to the two inmates before they were moved.

Responding to the claims, Commissioner Murphy said no one on his medical team has reported any inmate had tested positive for the virus.

“I don’t know who communicated to you or with you in reference to coronavirus in (the) prison but I am not aware of any corona in prison at this time and the officers that they are threatened — they are fully aware that anything that relates to (the) prison is supposed to be published by the official authority and they know their job will be threatened by the Correctional Act. Any information coming out of prison (is) supposed to be issued by the relevant authority,” he said.

When told the officers said their concerns had been ignored, Mr Murphy said there are some things The Tribune ought not to “take up”.

He told our reporter: “Ms Russell, Ms Russell, Ms Russell, you’re a journalist and there are some things that you ought to not take up.

“The point I’m making is this: corona is a global thing. If corona in prison you think the officers have to complain to their supervisors if corona in prison? The question is who told them corona was in prison and I, as the commissioner, no one has told me that corona is in prison at this time?

“… If you have a cold, that doesn’t mean you have the corona. If corona is in prison the commissioner is a responsible individual. Officers don’t have to publish that.

“When corona (was) first announced in The Bahamas, the commissioner was the first department to shut down operations and put all of the necessary protocols in the place and still in place now.”

Pressed further on the issue, the commissioner said it was “almost annoying” that he had been asked about whether the situation at the prison was under control.

“If corona was (in the) prison do you think the commissioner would not take the necessary steps? All of the necessary protocols were put in place the day when they announced that corona was in The Bahamas.

“What officers need to be concerned about is they themselves need to be following the protocols; wear their masks, sanitize their hands, social distancing that’s what they need to be concerned (about) rather than trying to get other persons to be concerned for them,” the prison commissioner said.

Back in April, inmates at BDCS claimed conditions at the facility were “desperate” as they feared not enough was being done to protect them from contracting COVID-19.

Apart from alleging expired and insufficient hand sanitizers were distributed to prisoners and that no supplies were passed out to allow proper cleaning, they said in a letter that BDCS was becoming increasingly dangerous as fights were allegedly breaking out over food because rations have been cut.

Commissioner Murphy said at the time that much of what was alleged in the letter was “baseless”. He outlined COVID-19 prevention measures that were implemented at the facility over a month before the claims were made.