00:00Inmates detained under preventative detention orders were being released up to today,
00:04with a process described as slow and tedious as prison officials worked to have the majority of detainees freed by
00:11nightfall.
00:12TV6 arrived at the area near the entrance to the Eastern Regional Correctional Facility around 1.30pm,
00:18where about 30 cars and SUVs lined the side of the road leading to the Arawak check-in plant.
00:24The vehicles were there to collect relatives and friends, some of whom had been detained for months while others had
00:31been in custody for weeks,
00:33as the current state of emergency is due to end on September 17th.
00:37Acting Prisons Commissioner Elvin Scanterbury said he did not have the final figure for the number of inmates scheduled to
00:43be released today.
00:44Scanterbury said releases were also taking place at the women's prison and the men's facility at Golden Grove.
00:50He says it has been a smooth process and it took a lot of planning and I'm very proud of
00:57all the work we have done
00:59and all of the meetings held late into the night to plan this out.
01:02Relatives have been instructed to remain in their vehicles until they were told that they could proceed to collect their
01:08loved ones.
01:09A large white tent near the entrance was manned by police officers and masked prison officers, all heavily armed.
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