The Bahamas Prison Officers Association (BPOA) warned yesterday there would be a "serious breakdown" in prison operations if the government does not address its mounting concerns.

Dennis Williams, the attorney representing the association, said prison officers have long had to contend with unsanitary and unsafe conditions at Her Majesty's Prisons (HMP).

Williams said officers are continuously faced with the nauseating stench emanating from slop buckets that are still in use in maximum security.

"This cannot continuously happen, and, if it is not addressed, obviously there's going to be a serious breakdown in the operations of the prison," said Williams at a press conference at the Bahamas Public Services Union headquarters on Wulff Road.

"That is not a threat. That is just a fact.

"The chain will be broken. The machine will break down. I would just humbly ask the government to sit down and try...to come up with some sensible solutions to try to deal with these issues."

The Guardian attempted to reach Minister of National Security Dr. Bernard Nottage and Minister of State for National Security Keith Bell, but calls were not returned yesterday.

However, both ministers previously acknowledged challenges at the prison. Nottage said last year that, at some point, the government will have to "bite the bullet" and build a new prison.

During yesterday's press conference, Williams claimed that officers have been exposed to inmates with infectious diseases. He also claimed there is often a lack of sufficient running water at the prison.

BPOA President Gregory Archer and other senior members of the Association, in addition to President of the National Trade Union of Congress (NCTUB) John Pinder, were also at the press conference.

Pinder pledged to use the umbrella union's influence to assist the BPOA. "We have a number of members...We have some leverage to do some things," he said. "So we are going to do what we have to do."

NCTUB represents over 30,000 workers, according to Pinder. Archer said the Association's efforts to cause change have so far failed.

"For the past five years we've been agitating on health and safety issues at Her Majesty's Prisons," he said. "We have met and talked but the problems are still there.

I don't know [why] we're meeting if we're not going to bring resolution to the problem. "But I know the [BPOA]; we are at the point where we refuse to work in such horrible conditions."

Last year, Bell acknowledged that the use of slop buckets is outdated. "[Some prisoners] are locked away in a hallway that has been converted into a dormitory," he said in the Senate."

They are locked there. There's the slop pail method of getting rid of waste. "...When I went there I thought there was a fire going on. The young men in there have to actually light pieces of paper to generate smoke to keep down the stench. That's how bad it is."

Last year, the government allocated $650,000 to carry out improvements at the prison.

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