Not so new Bordelais head determined to return prison back to ‘a decent standard’

Hilary Herman is no stranger to the Bordelais Correctional Facility. He served as the prison’s first director from 2003 to 2008, then left to take up the position of Director of Corrections in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Herman returned to Saint Lucia to serve in his old position from 2009-2015. After a four-year period, Herman now begins his third stint at the helm of the Bordelais facility, effective  October 1, 2019.

On Wednesday Herman told the STAR he decided to reapply for the position because he felt he still had a contribution to make. He said there currently was no overcrowding; the inmate count stands at 503 but there are far greater concerns. In his first 90 days, an evaluation will be undertaken and an assessment made on the way forward. “Based on my initial visit there,” he said, “I realized that I need to get the place back to a decent standard. Right now, it’s pretty much been let go to waste. It needs a lot of work to bring it back to the expected minimum standards.” 

Herman underscored the issue of cleanliness and the need for critical infrastructural repairs. He acknowledges that since Bordelais is a 16-year-old facility, there will be many years of deterioration. For instance, he says, inmate cells have quite a bit of rust, thanks to sea blasts. Some fences have become unsecured, again due to rusting. When things begin to fall apart, Herman said, people tend to become complacent and the pride of the job goes away.  The much needed repairs will aim to “bring the pride of the job back to the staff and give the inmates a sense of purpose.”

Herman identified prisoner rehabilitation among his greatest concerns. He says that due to costs, the prison cannot provide all the skills they want to, in order to prepare inmates for the world outside. The director labelled himself “a realist” who understands that the prison won’t be a priority when there are competing interests like repairing schools, hospitals and roads. However, Caribbean Vocational Qualifications (CVQs) in the areas of farming, carpentry and masonry are available. “Not as many that we would like to,” Herman added. “However, teaching skills require equipment; and equipment requires money.”

Other initiatives include giving inmates access to counselling. Another aspect of rehabilitation is the issue of whether or not prisoners should be allowed to vote in the island’s general elections. Currently, they can’t. Herman says that while the decision lies with the government, he believes that if we are serious about rehabilitation, inmates should be permitted to vote.

“We’re in the business of reform so I think we’ll have some bias because we would like the inmate to participate in everything that society does,” said Herman. “There’s the flip side of the coin where people will say the inmates lost that privilege because they’ve committed a crime. I would like to see them become productive citizens. Part of being productive citizens is taking your voting right seriously.”

He added: “It’s come up in the past but, like many other topics, it never rises to the top. It would come up sporadically, as would the death penalty; those topics come up every so often, then they disappear under the wind.”

Herman disclosed that a parole board was recently appointed which will look into reducing the prison population by granting parole, once prisoners meet the requirements. At press time, a tenure for the Director’s contract had not been finalised. It is expected to be for two-three years.