Underfunded, understaffed, overcrowded

IT is alarming to know that of the 334 people who escaped from prisons in Papua New Guinea this year, 254 are still on the run.
And within a space of two months, three jailbreaks happened, including the latest on Sunday at Buimo, in Lae, where 16 prisoners escaped.
Last Sunday, 17 broke through the brick wall of their shower block at Biru, in Northern, and fled.
Last month, under the cover of heavy rain, 41 prisoners dug through from their cells, cut the prison fence and escaped.
With all the jailbreaking going on, Correctional Services is under the spotlight, and at a time like this it is easy to point a finger at it and say that it is failing in its duty to keep prisoners locked up and the public safe.
However, the truth is that Correctional Services’ ability to perform its duty to the fullest is under attack on several fronts.
First, there is the funding issue. There has never been enough money to do the things it needs to do, even for basic stuff like providing healthful meals for more than 4000 people languishing in our jails, including people on remand.
And this takes us to the second issue of overcrowding; some jails are holding almost twice as many people it should be housing.
Manpower shortage leaves prison officers seriously outnumbered, even though as part of their daily work life, they face situations that can be life-threatening. Add to this things like poor maintenance of staff houses and poor wages and one should not be surprised to be told that morale among prison wardens is low.
Correctional Service Commander Michael Waipo said yesterday that manpower levels are worst now because many officers have taken leave to make up for the work they did during the general election.
Correction Services’ allocation in the 2018 national Budget is the same as in 2017 and 2016, so there really is not much room to move.
Overcrowding – not only at Buimo but in all jails – is an ongoing problem that puts a lot of strain on the prisons’ ability to take care of prisoners. For example, Buimo prison was built to hold a maximum of 600 prisoners at any one time. Right now, it has 976 inmates.
In May this year, 77 inmates escaped from there, but 17 were shot and didn’t make it to the woods. In 2016, 87 prisoners escaped from Buimo – 12 were shot dead as they stormed through the main gate. In 2015, 50 prisoners escaped in a similar manner.
The investigation conducted into the May breakout showed that most of those who escaped were detainees on remand.
The overcrowding is having an effect on another serious matter – health. The lack of room for segregation has resulted in prisoners with diseases like tuberculosis, dysentery and diarrhea sharing the same space as the rest of the prison population.
These are issues not confined to within the walls of Buimo. It is the same in every other prison in the country.
Of more than 4000 inmates in holding facilities around the country, nearly half are people on remand waiting for their case to be heard by a court.
Obviously we need more jails, not so much in expectancy of incarcerating more of our people, but to ensure that while prisoners are being held under the care of our government agencies, they are safe, healthy and enjoying their rights as protected in our Constitution.
Without a doubt, Correctional Services needs urgent help from the government in terms of funding for programmes, expansion and improvement.
People on remand should be housed in purpose-built facilities so they don’t come into contact with criminals. Some people spend years in prison, waiting for their day in court and contributing to overcrowding.
The police and the courts should see to it that they are processed quickly so they can move on with their life, whatever that may be.