Inconsistent decision-making, under-staffing and a decrease in educational programmes for inmates have forced some prison officers to call in sick again this morning.

And they say this action will continue until senior staff admit their mistakes and resolve the problems.

Yesterday morning 26 officers, not including the afternoon staff, called in sick. Last night another 10 to 15 were expected to do the same.

A prison officer, who spoke to The Royal Gazette on condition of anonymity, said the officers were taking this action because they had many concerns which needed to be addressed.

He said there had been grievances with senior staff members since Westgate opened.

For example, he said, there should be two officers in each unit. Currently one officer is responsible for 40 to 45 prisoners. This, he said, was very stressful.

The officer said this point was stressed during a meeting the officers had with Chief Officer Ms Delores Amaral in November. But nothing has been done about it.

Additionally, the officer also claimed that senior officers were making inconsistent and bad decisions which were putting other officers at risk.

And he said the latest incident, which involved a prisoner who requested to attend a relative's funeral, was a clear example of this.

Prison officers, who are dealing directly with prisoners on a daily basis, should have some input as to whether or not they should be allowed out, he said. But this he alleged was not happening.

"They knock off at 4 p.m. and we're left with all sorts of situations that arise after 5 p.m.,'' he said.

Moreover he said officers also wanted the Prison Commissioner Mr. Edward Dyer to publicly apologise to them for telling the media prisoner officers may have had a set of master keys that went missing.

He said that, on the day the keys went missing, officers advised senior staff to shut the prison down. However this advice was ignored and prisoners in maximum security were allowed to spend time in the recreational area as normal.

Furthermore, the officer said that convicted murderer Troy Shorter, who has now been moved to the medium security area, had the keys because he works in the gym there.

The officer said prison officers were also frustrated with the administration's failure to realise that new programmes and policies needed to be organised at Westgate.

"When we came in, the policy was we have a new day, prisoners attitudes should be different. But we feel the programmes are worse than at Casemates.'' At Casemates, educational courses and other activities were held year round, he said. But at Westgate, there are no courses during the summer.

He said there was only one (medical) doctor and no psychologist: "Dr. Binns comes and goes''.

"I can't see the light at the end of the tunnel,'' he said.

Prison officers, he added, were also unhappy with the Prison Officers Association.

"We feel that people involved in the association are more concerned with gaining a promotion, than our concerns,'' he said. But he refused to be drawn on whether this meant officers were thinking of forming another union.

The officer said that the sick-out and other forms of protest were not out to "down grade'' the administration they just want some action on their concerns.

Last night, Mr. Dyer urged the officer to come to him with his grievances, rather than raise them with The Royal Gazette .

Alternatively, he could present them in writing.

"I don't really care which way he does it, but I think coming to me would be a more appropriate route than going to the media.'' On the complaint over a decrease in educational programmes, Mr. Dyer said he was "mystified''.

"During the summer the educational programmes either stop altogether or are considerably reduced because it gives a break for the prisoners and also our budget will not permit us to run an educational programme for everybody.'' He added: "As schools take a break in the summer so we take a break, and this has been happening for so many years that I am puzzled by this being presented as a reason for sick-outs.

"The fact is education programmes are geared to start up again next week.'' Mr. Dyer said it was true only one officer was responsible for a unit. And this could create some problems.

"But where do I find two people for a unit? I have a limited number of staff.

"When we opened Westgate we knew we didn't have sufficient staff, and that we would have to get authorisation to get new staff.

"What we are doing is having a look at redeployment. We are looking at the current way we allocate staff, and seeing if we can improve on it.'' Mr. Dyer went on to apologise over the missing master keys controversy.

His claim prison officers may have had them was based on wrong information when an investigation into the incident was incomplete, he said.

"Later on we found the keys were handed in. The keys didn't come directly from an officer.

"They came from a prisoner who gave them to a member of staff, and of course I do apologise for the statement I made.''