Officers queried over jail outbreaks

CORRECTIONAL Services Minister Jim Simatab has questioned prison officers about why there was always a delay in submitting reports of jail outbreaks.
“We continue to be in the news for the very wrong reasons and I am still dumb-founded about the constant prison outbreaks, most of which have occurred in broad daylight over the last four years,” he said.
Simatab said he should be receiving reports of jail outbreaks within a week of their occurrence.
“Often, my first reports comes via the media. I have also continued to ask this simple question after each outbreak: How many duty officers will be found guilty of negligence and be terminated, or better still, prosecuted and imprisoned in their very own jails?” he said.
Simatab said the CS was an aging force, with many lower rank officers near retirement, pensioners unaccounted for, staff training lagging behind the other two disciplined forces.
He said most provincial jails in the country could not effectively perform the legal functions of detainee rehabilitation, and provided safe and secured containment of prisoners.