The injustice of overcrowded prisons

BUIMO Jail in Lae is still overcrowded and stretched to the limit.
Two years ago, a report highlighted several detainees being kept in the prison precinct for over nine years while waiting for their turn in court.
This came out during investigations into the mass breakout at Buimo prison in Lae where 58 prisoners escaped in 2017.
Most of those who dashed for freedom were in remand who were frustrated by the jail management’s lack of attention to their complaints that they did not want to be detained with those who had been convicted of committing criminal acts.
Detainees are simply awaiting trial by courts and each has as good as half a chance to be freed at the end of their trial.
This time, there are 1051 detainees and the prison is struggling to feed them.
The jail was built to cater for a maximum of 500 inmates.
Having twice as many inmates was straining the 97 jail officers, creating increased security risks and the likelihood of disease outbreaks.
Staff houses are in a poor state and need immediate refurbishment or should be dismantled.
The single barracks also required renovation and maintenance.
The Buimo prison commander says 50 per cent of the total operational budget was spent on food. Each month they K205,000 on rations and that will increase to K210,000.
Prisoners also run low on blankets and eating utensils. Six boilers cannot cook meals for 1051 detainees at once.
Last week, we reported that the upsurge in inmates this month has been due to effective policing in Lae.
While police is doing an excellent job in removing troublemakers off the streets in Lae and sending them to jail, the support at the other end is not enough.
No doubt, the detainee population is increasing.
And the prisons holding capacity is very limited leading to outbreak in diseases such as tuberculosis, dysentery, diarrhoea and other airborne diseases.
Sadly not all inmates get to the rehabilitation stage to change as all jails are full beyond capacity and the government is not doing anything about the lack of spaces in jails.
More jails should be built or the court will look at diverting the offenders to other correctional activities to reform them.
Currently there are more than 4000 inmates in holding facilities around the country and nearly half are remandees.
Someone has to cop the blame for allowing detainees to be kept in prison while they wait for their turn in court.
They are presumed innocent of any offence for which the person is remanded; and the detention is not imposed as punishment of the remandee.
The agony of waiting for their day in court for some in PNG prisons has led to frustration and might we add, it’s injustice to those who are innocent.
Holding them for long periods is like sentencing them without trial.
Whatever little hope left for the remandee goes out the window when days turn into weeks, months and years.
And when they escape, they get slapped with another charge.
It is chronic overcrowding not only at Buimo but in all prisons in the country that has been there for 10 years.
Imagine being held in horrible conditions for years and simply forgotten.