It is rumored that incarcerated dancehall artiste Ninja Man has been transferred from the Tower Street Adult Correctional Center, more popularly known as GP, to the St Catherine Adult Correctional Center, in Spanish Town.
An inside source at GP told THE WEEKEND STAR that the entertainer was relocated earlier this week after getting the cold shoulder from most of the inmates and some prison officials.
“The officers are treating 'Addi' (Vybz Kartel) better than him. Him send fi a 50-inch TV and dem take it away. He paid for it to come in illegal though. The inmates dem a bun him out because him did a say man must not get sex from dem girls in prison and now see him drop a di same place,” the source said.
Last July, National Security Minister Robert Montague announced that some prisoners would get conjugal visits, one of the new measure "we must begin to humanise" prisoners.
However Ninja Man, who was on bail for murder at the time, stated that while the new policy was a 'nice gesture', it perhaps ought to be revisited after implementing other rehabilitative programmes.
“The man in prison nah nuh work. What we should be doing is thinking of ways and means to stop (using) taxpayer's money just for keeping prisoners," he told THE STAR then.
“Di man dem a do him bad cuz dem a say him use to bun out Kartel when him did a get try fi murder and say if him do di crime, him must do di time. It look like him never know say fi him time did ago come so nuff man no inna too much chattings with him,” the insider said.
THE WEEKEND STAR contacted Ninja Man’s attorney Valerie Neita Robertson who said that she cannot confirm or deny the rumours.
Similar sentiments were echoed by state minister in the National Security Ministry, Pearnel Charles Jr. He also directed us to Commissioner of Corrections Ina Fairweather Hunter. Attempts to reach her however proved futile. News of prisoners having fancy equipment in their cells is not a new phenomenon. In 2015, The Gleaner published an article which highlighted how some of the inmates are enjoying ‘luxurious’ living conditions behind bars at GP.
There were several photos of inmates with TVs, radios, and even video games in cells, with one inmate posting a photo of him playing a game on a PlayStation 3.
The article was based mostly on the photos and posts uploaded by prison inmates on social media.
Ninja Man, given name Desmond Ballentyne, is currently serving a life sentence.
The entertainer and his son Janiel were found guilty on November 21 for the March 2009 murder of Ricardo Johnson on Marl Road in Kingston.
