AN offer by the government of St. Lucia to house prisoners from the Turks & Caicos Islands at the Bordelais Correctional Facility following the passage of Hurricane Irma has been taken up by the British Overseas Territory.
Prime Minister Allen Chastanet, who made the offer last Friday, confirmed yesterday that a request for three prisoners from the Turks & Caicos to be held at the Dennery-based correctional facility was made.
The Prime Minister did not go into much detail on the transaction. However, he made it clear that an audit was made of Bordelais, where it was found that the facility could easily house the three prisoners from the Turks & Caicos Islands.
“Obviously, we would want to know the circumstances under which those prisoners were arrested to determine the level of security that we would have to have. I just want to reassure St. Lucians that in no way are we looking to jeopardize our own security,” Chastanet said.
He said he has been in discussion with the British regarding the offer, which is still on the table, but nothing has come out of the discussion as there were certain protocols that would have to be accomplished to facilitate the offer.
The Turks and Caicos Islands, along with the British Virgin Islands, Barbuda and other countries in the Caribbean’s northern archipelago, were ravaged by Hurricane Irma when it was registered as a Category Five storm.