Bundaira jail needs wing for female inmates

THE Bundaira Correctional Services institution in Kainantu, Eastern Highlands, needs a female inmate wing and water supply for its 120 inmates and 29 officers with families, a prison officer says.
An issue over land compensation and water source by landowners, who claimed K3 million from the State, resulted in alleged tampering of the water supply source.
The CS had to find elsewhere to extract water to supply the prison and wardens’ families which saw taps run dry during dry season.
Deputy commander operations Samson Kisa said after 30 years Bundaira jail had no female wing to cater for female prisoners and female prisoners were sent to Bihute.
“The houses that accommodated CS officers and families, administration building and male inmate wing also needed refurbishments” Kisa said.
He said the jail had the capacity for 300 prisoners and required more manpower. Currently they have 29 officers looking after 120 prisoners.
Jail commander Crispin Unga said they had a huge land available for prison programmes.
“As such, we already set up more than a thousand coffee seedlings in nurseries to be planted soon to generate income to meet some of our prison needs” he said.
Unga signed an agreement on Feb 11 with Kainantu urban councillor Chriscilla Smack and deputy manager Michael Motan to lease a land portion to build the new Kainantu rural hospital.
In the agreement, a Southern Cross tank would also be installed.
The arrangement is under government’s public-private partnership with REM Distributors Ltd as private entrepreneur and Tata Investment Consultancy Ltd.