Former Jamaica prisons boss John Prescod has been appointed as Bermuda's new Commissioner of Prisons.

Home Affairs and Public Safety Minister Terry Lister said he hoped Mr. Prescod, 53, would slash recidivism rates by 50 percent just as he did in his old post which he held for eight years.

Mr. Lister said Mr. Prescod had developed and implemented a strategy for rehabilitation in Jamaica - which fitted well with Government's Alternatives to Incarceration initiative.

Mr. Prescod's career at the helm of Jamaica's prisons from 1994 was marked by allegations of prison officer on inmate violence, riots, break-outs and walkouts by prison officers.

In 1997 prisoners rioted over his plan to offer condoms inside Jamaica's prisons to officers and inmates to fight AIDS. Sixteen homosexual inmates were killed and Prison officers walked off the job, and were replaced by soldiers.

Mr. Prescod is a former colonel in the Jamaican Defence Force.

In June 2000 300 inmates were allegedly beaten by Prison officers at St. Catherine's prison. It is understood that while some officers were transferred, none were disciplined.

Of the new Commissioner, Mr. Lister said: "Significantly the recidivism rate in that country is now just under 40 percent compared to the very alarming 85 percent that obtains in Bermuda."

Mr. Lister said the new prison boss, who takes over from acting commissioner Edwin Wilson on or before May 1, was passionate about the parole board process, having served on the National Parole Board of Jamaica.

The Minister said he understood the frustrations of prisoners and their families who have been held back because Bermuda's parole board had not been operating.

And the Minister announced that Government was advertising to recruit staff to fill the second phase of Government's commitment to boosting staffing at Westgate after recommendations from last year's board of inquiry.

He said the department had taken on an educational coordinator, two additional caseworkers and one additional prison psychologist.

He said: "We can't emphasise too strongly the importance of providing adequate psychological and related support for our inmates."

Dr. James Buccigross, from Ohio, is to replace Prison Psychologist Dr. Kit Snyder who resigned recently.

The second psychologist, Dr. Hermoine Jackson, will come in three weeks time to cover the prison farm and the Co-Ed facility.

Mr. Lister said Dr. Buccigross had served nearly 20 years in adult and juvenile correctional facilities and had worked extensively with violent and sexual offenders.

Mr. Lister said: "It is significant that Dr. Buccigross's Ph.D. was entitled Predicting Recidivism Among Juvenile Delinquents."

Asked about sex offenders Dr. Buccigross said they could be treated but it took a lot of work. He said: "They can't be ignored otherwise they come out as better sex offenders."

Mr. Lister said courses offering carpentry, motor mechanics, masonry, plumbing and electrical and building trades are to be offered by the prisons department in partnership with the National Training Board.

The prisons department has also entered into a contract with C.A.R.E. computer services to offer subjects including remedial and advanced English, mathematics and reading.

Sharon Wilkinson has been appointed as Education Coordinator to improve current programmes and recommend new ones while administrative and supervisory training was being boosted for prison officers said Mr. Lister.

The Minister hit back at claims made by law student and former inmate Charles Richardson, that the prison system failed to rehabilitate prisoners.

Mr. Lister said: "He benefited from the prison system, regardless of whether he can now call it failed. He was able to come out as a lawyer."

"There are shortcomings that we are grossly, intimately aware of. The budget addresses this. The programmes are all fully-funded, the people we are talking about getting on board are all fully-funded."

He said early release would be dependent on inmates taking part in training programmes or drug programmes if that was relevant.

He added: "We are looking at day release programmes that work."

Mr. Lister said a new bill tabled on Friday night would set up a reciprocal arrangement with Canada and the US to send back their citizens currently in the Bermuda prison system.

But he said a similar deal would have to be worked out on an ad hoc basis with Jamaica because they weren't operating on an international agreement for prisoner exchange.