The deputy of Nueva Canarias (NC) in Congress, Pedro Quevedom, has appealed to the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, for the situation of the Tahíche prison in Lanzarote, "understaffed and under-equipped". Quevedo has explained to the ministerial head that the penitentiary center "is not prepared to house highly dangerous prisoners".
Following the recent meeting held by the NC deputy and the secretary of the progressive nationalists of Arrecife, Armando Santana, with the Association of Bodies of the Penitentiary Institutions Administration (Acaip) on the island, "given the pressure suffered by the officials of this center due to the lack of human and material resources necessary to manage the number of inmates housed", Pedro Quevedo has registered a question for written response.
According to him, the Tahíche prison is an old prison that, despite having been improved with new facilities, "is not prepared to house highly dangerous prisoners". "It also does not have enough officials to carry out control and monitoring tasks since, of the 14 who perform their internal surveillance work, it is common for their number to be reduced to 10 due to medical leave and vacations," says Quevedo.
In the last seven years, according to the NC deputy, "highly dangerous prisoners have been transferred, mainly from Tenerife and Gran Canaria." Currently, "there are about 20 who have starred in various altercations, aggressions and harassment of staff," he adds.
For NC, the Ministry of the Interior must provide a solution to the problem "to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of the workers and prisoners who live together in the island's penitentiary center".
