Managing prisons a challenge

THE National Court in Madang imposed life sentences on 88 people and the death penalty on eight on Tuesday.
Beon Jail, we assume because of their locality, will be their permanent home of residency for a very long time.
The eight sentenced to death will join another eight already on death row with no clear sign yet of when they will be executed, if at all.
Going forward, this means, Correctional Services have 96 more people to feed and accommodate at Beon.
Another issue is the overcrowding of prisons in the country, which is a long-standing problem that is seldom addressed effectively. Even the courts have, from time to time raised the issue of prison reforms in general, and that of overcrowding in particular. Measures to decongest jails have been irregular and half-hearted.
Not only must prisoners be held securely, efforts should be made to provide opportunities for them to become useful citizens when they are released.
The fair and humane treatment of prisoners is an important and fundamental human right.
Three months ago in April, Correctional Services was on the verge of moving prisoners at Beon to other jails because of water shortage created when the Water PNG plant in the province was vandalised.
Inmates had started using pit toilets. At that time, there were about 405 inmates at Beon, Commissioner Michael Waipo told The National then.
Latest figures from Beon show that there are 424 inmates there, more than twice as many people it shouild be holding.
Currently, there are 21 officially gazetted Correctional Institutions of which 17 are operating and four closed.
Institutions operating are Bomana (NCD), Buimo (Lae), Baisu (Mt Hagen), Kerevat (Rabual), Kavieng (Kavieng), Manus (Lorengau), Lakiemata (Kimbe), Beikut (AROB), Giligili (Alotau), Biru (Popondetta), Beon (Madang), Boram (Wewak), Vanimo (Vanimo), Bundaira (Kainantu), Bihute (Goroka), Barawagi (Kundiawa) and Ningerum (Kiunga).
Closed are Buiebi (Mendi) Mukurumanda (Wabag), Hawa (Tari) and Daru (Daru).
Correctional Services should provide mechanisms, facilities and services for carrying out orders of the judiciary in relation to community members who have been charged with or convicted of criminal offences.
On an average day, there is a good number of people held in jails who are awaiting a court appearance. These remandees have not been found guilty of a crime yet. In many cases, they are in jail because they are too poor to afford bail or fine. The slow pace of court cases worsens the problem.
Keeping these people out of jail would save money and allow jail administrators to focus on the needs of long-term inmates, which include mental health and substance abuse treatment.
The focus for prisons in PNG, like in many countries, is to provide secure and humane conditions. And while this is a simple and logical sentiment, we all know how difficult this can be.
Managing a prison is a challenging job.
It needs to be done well. Prisons are tough places.
If lawmakers are serious about reducing overcrowding in jail, reducing the pre-trial backlog must be part of the solution.