The head of the Prison Officers Association has accused the Government of a deliberate delay in the release of a health and safety report into Westgate prison. Tim Seon, the chairman of the POA, which has been in dispute over conditions at Westgate for months, said the report by Titus Gordon, the Government’s chief occupational health and safety officer, was done in April and due to be released in May. Mr Seon added: “The members feel that this report was withheld deliberately — we wanted to review it going into the perceived labour dispute because it would have given us a lot of legs so people have a clearer understanding as to how we work in the conditions that we are working in.“That is a concern. Six months outstanding is a lot and it is unacceptable. We intend to communicate with the Cabinet to find out the status of the report.”Mr Seon said: “Mr Gordon toured the facility and would have inspected all the facilities.“He would have dealt with the daily maintenance of the estate and addressing the mould and also health, safety and security measures of all the facilities and the regimes of the service. “It is an important report. We are looking to communicate with Cabinet to get that report released.“We were supposed to have it six months ago, but Mr Gordon said there have been other emergencies in other government departments that drew his attention because his office is also understaffed.”The POA in May said that staff had to care for mentally ill inmates without proper support and that officers had been “faced with unaddressed adverse matters pertaining to safety, security, and work conditions for over 20 years”. The POA highlighted mould problems, a lack of maintenance, burst pipes and security concerns. The association started a work to rule the same month.Wayne Caines, the national security minister, defended Government’s record on Westgate in the House of Assembly after prison officers marched in a protest to Sessions House in June.Mr Caines highlighted the recruitment of 25 new officers, a new cleaning regime and improvements to air conditioning, as well as upgrades to the CCTV network and telephone systems.The Government did not respond to a request for comment on why the report’s release had been delayed.