Escape blamed on funds lack

Public Safety Commissioner Charles Ingram said yesterday he would not yield to calls for his resignation because of the escape of convicts from the Division of Corrections, as he blamed the jailbreak on inadequately secured prison and lack of budget.

According to the Ingram, the incident only underscored the need to fast track the construction of a new prison and pump in additional funds into the appropriation to the Department of Public Safety.

“The solution is we have to have a new prison facility. The solution is we have to have additional budget,” Ingram said in an interview in light of plans by the Legislature to hold an oversight hearing if the DPS investigation would prove unsatisfactory.

Six more prisoners remain at large after eight prisoners, including three serving life sentences for murder and two others for attempted rape and sexual abuse of children, dashed to freedom from the poorly secured prison in Susupe Monday night.

Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio has already ordered an investigation into the jailbreak to bring charges against prison guards who would be proven negligent in their duty.

Ingram explained the agency’s tight budget prevents him from hiring additional full-time employees for DPS, and because of manpower shortage, about eight prison guards are working on a 12-hour shift.

There are a total of 350 people employed by the department.

The existing prison is built to accommodate 35 people, but according to Ingram the facility is currently home to 92 inmates.

But federal officials, worried over the overcrowding and potential lawsuit the CNMI may face because of the poor condition inside the jail, has called for the expansion of the prison facility.

A federal grant amounting to $17 million has been extended to the Northern Marianas for the construction of a 250-bed prison facility.