Shadow Home Affairs Minister Maxwell Burgess accused the Prison service of spending like "a drunken sailor", as a $2.2 million budget overspend was revealed to the House of Assembly, yesterday.

Mr. Burgess launched into a tirade against the Department of Corrections as the supplementary estimate (number three) for the year 2001/2 came up for debate with $599,331 extra on the prisons' current account.

The majority of the 20 percent overspend, which added to previous supplementary estimates reached more than $2 million, was on overtime.

Some of the extra cash went on "material and supplies" which Home Affairs Minister Randy Horton said had been spent on the civilian prison at Southside.

But Mr. Burgess refused to accept this, telling the House, which was sitting in full committee: "The truth is, we have got a prison service spending like a drunken sailor.

"The officers have been screaming out for accountable management. The prison are in dire need. The $600,000 overspend is as a consequence of shortages of staff.

"Officers are walking out of the service in disgust and dismay. Leading to the question, what sort of service are the inmates getting, with the officers left behind being stretched?

"We have had 20-odd walkouts in the past year. And why are they walking out? We need to get to the root of the problem.

"We cannot continue to throw away money in overtime without addressing the problem."

Government Minister Terry Lister responded: "We have normalised turnover of staff for the past few years. Prisoners being taken to court is responsible for the increase in overtime."

But Opposition MP Patricia Gordon-Pamplin continued the criticism of the Department of Corrections, which continues to operate with low staff morale following this year's strike action by officers attempting to oust Prison Commissioner John Prescod.

"There is a phenomenon that is clearly not understood by Government called planning," she told the House.

"$2.2 million represents an awful lot of manpower in normal hours. We are looking at cock-eyed management here. There must be recognition that there is a shortage within the prison service, why aren't we looking at that?

"To come up with an overspend of $2.2 million seems an awful lot to waste. This additional $2.2 million has in no way served to ameliorate the frustrations and the stress that officers are feeling."

Opposition Leader Dr. Grant Gibbons added: "I think the taxpayers deserve an explanation."

The Department of Corrections faced controversy earlier this month when the Prison Officers Association voted unanimously to boycott an international conference of Corrections Departments.

The spectre of further strike action loomed a the start of the three day conference, held at Grotto Bay two weeks ago, but never materialised after Mr. Horton sat down with the POA at what both sides described as a "positive and refreshing meeting".

The Royal Gazette has yet to receive a report on the success of the conference despite repeated promises by the Government Department of Communication and Information.