Prisoners wash in well as water taps run dry

The 511 inmates of Beon Jail in Madang are now using water wells to bath after the water supply to the jail ran out last week, a casualty of the water crisis there.
Jail commander Andrew Polis said yesterday that the water supply issue in Madang had now affected the inmates.
Officers were now doing all they could to cope up with the situation.
Polis said CS officers had begun sending their families away.
“I just sent my family to their mother’s village in Bogia,” he said.
He said officers transported water from nearby creeks for drinking and cooking, mindful of water-borne diseases that were likely to affect the prisoners.
Polis said they would be looking at options to grant bail to suspects with minor offences to minimise the number in the overcrowded jail.
“As I’m speaking we have a 511 inmates in the prison,” he said.
The police cell at Jomba station was condemned as unfit for human occupation a year ago.
Justice David Cannings ordered the release of more than 90 detainees and ordered police and the provincial government to fix water, sanitation, lighting and cut down overcrowding. To this day the problems still existed.
Madang provincial police commander Ben Neneo earlier said that because the cell was still in poor condition, suspects arrested by police were sent directly to Beon.
Polis said the holding capacity of Beon was between 150-200 but because of the Jomba cell issue, the number had more than doubled.
Meanwhile, Madang’s water issue continues into its eighth week this week with more than 100,000 people exposed to waterborne diseases.
Governor Peter Yama expressed concerns that Water PNG’ was taking long to fix the problem.