too much time off sick drew fierce debate from MPs on Monday night.

Shadow Health and Social Services Minister Renee Webb raised the issue in the motion to adjourn in the House of Assembly.

"Why are so many prison officers taking so much time off,'' she asked.

In Monday's edition of The Royal Gazette it was revealed that a shocking report divulged that officers called in sick every four days.

The article added that the Prisons Department planned next month to introduce tight new procedures to cut back on sick leave.

After noting that Prison officers were off 63.5 days out of the 261 paid days of the year, Ms Webb last night declared that the Government had a "serious problem'' on its hands.

And she argued that something should have been done to rectify the situation "a long time ago''.

She admitted that not all prison officers abused the system and were genuinely sick or unable to go to work.

But she insisted some officers were exploiting the system and deemed the behaviour unacceptable.

And she called on those workers in question to be held accountable.

Shadow Human Affairs Minister Dr. Ewart Brown said the prison officers problem had progress beyond an "acute crisis'' stage.

"It is a chronic problem,'' he said.

Finance Minister Grant Gibbons , speaking for Health and Social Services Minister Quinton Edness , said sick leave was "a complex issue''.

He said the structure of the prison system resulted in a lot of "wear and tear'' on prison officers.

Citing the law requiring two Prison officers to watch a person on trial for murder 24 hours a day, Dr. Gibbons said procedures like those forced Prison officers to work a lot of overtime.

And that, he said, wore officers out.

Dr. Gibbons also said transporting prisoners to and from doctor's offices and to court for mention required a lot of officers and consumed a lot of time.

He said suggestions to have medical care administered at Westgate could help "free up'' some staff.

But Dr. Brown called Dr. Gibbons' response to the House of Assembly "weak'' and said it was an insult to taxpayer.

"This is a serious problem and deserves a serious answer.'' Renee Webb