ACTING SUPERINTENDENT OF PRISONS, Lieutenant-Colonel John Nurse, was liked by inmates, even though big on discipline and security.

Keimar Payne, an inmate who had been constantly disciplined, even placed in solitary confinement at Glendairy Prisons before it was destroyed by fire on March 29, 2005, made that claim Tuesday.

"Mr Nurse is a good officer. He didn't try to make us happy, but he attempted to make sure we lived okay. He was looking for balance," Payne told a Commission of Inquiry at the Garfield Sobers Sports Complex.

"He was big on security but he was also a fair man," the inmate added.

Payne said many prison officers had the worst things to say about the prison chief, and he would hear them constantly discussing the superintendent.

But the inmate praised Nurse, saying he satisfied many by even setting up security to keep alleged homosexuals away from the general population.