The prison choir represented by female and male inmates from Montagne Posée prison lent their voices for two special events on the last weekend before Christmas day.

On Friday evening, December 20, 2019, the inmate choir joined ranks with Sesel Paster Lannwit singing Christmas carols at La Passerelle as well as in front of the Heritage Museum in Victoria. Joining the choir were staff of the prison along with their family members.

The department of prison’s 2020 budget, amounting to R84,990,000, was yesterday approved by the National Assembly.

Superintendent of Prison Raymond St Ange was present before the assembly yesterday afternoon, along with other officials from the prison service to provide more details on the budget allocation.

A R8.8 million reduction in the allocated budget was highlighted and attributed to the removal of R7.8 million as part of the service agreement between the Seychelles Prison Service and the Islands Development Company (IDC)allowing inmates on the rehabilitation programme to contribute to development on the outer islands. Named ‘Project Phoenix’, the programme will allow up to 100 inmates from the Montagne Posée prison to be assigned on outer islands. The R7.8 million was allocated toward the Montagne Posée prison master plan and used to upgrade the existing facilities of the prison.

A further R1 million reduction in the budget allocated towards rehabilitation and reintegration programme was pointed out, although Mr St Ange noted that rehabilitation is still an important component for inmates, and noting that enormous work is being done in collaboration with other entities to rehabilitate offenders. He added that they are looking into mentorship programmes as well.

With continuous improvements in mind, the department of prisons has confirmed that it will shortly be deploying a mobile telephone detection system which can as well be used to detect other metal contraband items.

Using the latest technology which is not hazardous to humans or animals, the mobile telephone detector once installed will be able to detect any mobile telephone regardless if it is powered on or not. Being moveable the security equipment will first be tested at the search room to the Montagne Posée Prison before being moved to other facilities. If found to be effective the system will be expanded to other units within the prison system.

The Seychelles Prison Service has welcomed a donation from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) of equipment that will enable it to ‘read’ and extract potentially valuable information from mobile telephones seized from inmates or others, violating the rules of the prisons.

The equipment, a UFED Touch2 Logical from Cellebrite, costing in excess of R400,000, will enable the prison service’s security and intelligence unit to quickly and effectively extract data from cellphones, smartphones, PDA’s, iPods, which are recovered from prison facilities.

A first in a series of planned meetings with members of the National Assembly and key districts was held on Friday October 25, 2019 at the Montagne Posée Prison.

This first meeting, which was attended by Phillip Arissol, elected member of the National Assembly of Anse Boileau, along with district administrators from Anse Boileau, Au Cap, Anse Aux Pins, Pointe Larue and Anse Royale, provided an opportunity for the prison authority to brief them on prison statistics, incidents as well as project updates.

They were taken on a tour of the facility which took in the renovated kitchen and dining hall, and within the male prison block, one residential section currently being renovated and upgraded.

It is the plan of the prison service to renovate all residential inmate blocks with improved ventilation and lights. The renovations also include repairing damaged toilets, plumbing and showers. A long awaited laundry facility will address further sanitary issues, once completed and commissioned.

Inspector Wilfred Radegonde of the department of prisons, and currently the officer in charge at the Montagne Posée Prison’s main male block, has been selected to follow a month-long certificate course being offered by the Malaysian Technical Training Programme.

The certificate’s course on ‘Human Development Plan on Inmates’ will be held at the Correctional Academy of Malaysia Langakwi, from September 1-28.

Among its objectives, according to the course brochure, the training aims:

● to expose delegates to the rehabilitation programme in Malaysian prisons so they can practice in their countries,

• to allow delegates to share knowledge and experience on rehabilitation programmes in their countries,

● to provide a holistic and diverse views on the different approaches in rehabilitating offenders,

● to discuss the contemporary issues on rehabilitation among participating countries.