Prison Officers? Association officials are having showdown talks this morning with Prisons Commissioner John Prescod over the transfer of male prisoners from Westgate to the Co-Ed facility.

They are furious that not only did Home Affairs Minister Randy Horton sanction the move without consulting the association but he also allowed high-risk prisoners to be moved, rather than the low-risk ones he promised.

And the POA has vowed not to allow the proposed transfer of a further nine prisoners today, following the dozen moved yesterday. ?This is typical of the administration as it relates to Mr. Prescod?s management style,? said POA spokesman Russ Ford, whose members met yesterday in an angry meeting over the continued problem of overcrowding at Westgate.

?The subject of moving prisoners to the Co-Ed facility was not even discussed at the four-hour meeting we had with Government officials last Thursday.

?Yet here we are with a dozen inmates moved yesterday and nine more planned for today. Minister Horton said in Saturday?s that the prisoners would be low-risk inmates yet we have had 12 foreign nationals, a lot of them with drug convictions and some with sentences up to 18 years, being moved to a facility which is not maximum security.

?We will not allow a further nine foreign nationals to be moved today. We can?t continue to accept this style of management. We will not allow the safety of our staff to be compromised any further. We will not participate in this transfer of prisoners ? enough staff are already at risk from physical violence.?

He added that although the movement of male prisoners to the Co-Ed facility was not discussed at last week?s marathon meeting with Government officials, other measures to reduce overcrowding were, including; the deportation of foreign nationals who were half-way through their sentences, sending stable psychiatric inmates to St. Brendan?, offering early release for those jailed for road traffic offences and even the establishment of a new temporary facility for low-security prisoners such as the one set-up at Southside last year. Yesterday a dozen male prisoners were moved from Westgate to the Co-Ed facility at Ferry Reach in a temporary solution to overcrowding in the prisons at the behest of Mr. Horton, who signed a special order to allow the move over the weekend.

Home Affairs and Public Safety acting permanent secretary Martin Law said the move brought numbers at Westgate down to below 200. The maximum capacity at Westgate is 208, though numbers have recently reached as high as 219.

The male prisoners were being kept in cells separate from the female and juvenile prisoners at the Co-Ed facility, said Mr. Law.