Deputy Leader of the Free National Movement and Shadow Minister for National Security, Shanendon Cartwright, today expressed serious concern following reports that the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services is unable to properly wash inmates’ clothing due to broken industrial equipment.
This situation currently unfolding in our prisons raises serious questions about management, maintenance, and priorities. Industrial washing machines are basic operational necessities. How is it that six out of eight machines are allowed to fail in a national correctional facility without immediate replacement?
Each industrial washer reportedly costs approximately $18,000. We are not discussing a billiondollar capital project. We are discussing essential equipment required to maintain sanitation and order in a facility housing nearly two thousand inmates.
This issue goes far beyond laundry.
With overcrowding, limited beds, and reports that some inmates sleep on floors and use slop buckets, sanitation is not optional. It is a matter of public health and institutional safety.
Correctional officers, police transporting inmates, court staff, and visitors are all affected when basic hygiene standards break down.
I also have to ask why emergency funding could not be identified immediately instead of waiting for the next fiscal year. When the Government sees fit, resources are found for luxury travel. What we are witnessing now is a question of priorities. How can basic prison infrastructure be left in this condition while other non-essential expenditures move forward?
This latest development reflects a wider pattern of strain across our national security system. We have seen overcrowding, delays in trials, and capacity challenges. Now we are witnessing basic operational failure.
I am calling on the Government to provide a full account of the maintenance schedule for prison equipment, the timeline for replacing the broken machines, the total cost of outsourcing laundry services, and the broader capital plan for the correctional system.
The Bahamian people expect their national security institutions to operate with order and professionalism. The minimum standard of governance is competence, but when even the basics are breaking down, it is no longer a management issue; it is a leadership failure.