A five-year development plan for the Buimo Correctional Service will be presented to Morobe’s Provincial Executive Council next week.
The plan includes a report of the current state of Lae’s Buimo Jail and a request of a new 200 man detainees’ dormitory and 20 staff houses.
The plan was prepared by the Commander for Buimo Correctional Service in Lae.
The suggestion of the five-year development plan for Buimo’s Prison was to stop overcrowding, health problems and escapes from happening.
Lae’s Buimo CS Commander, Felix Namane spoke to EMTV News today (02/10/17).
There are currently 95 officers serving at Buimo. Namane said the Prison needs more manpower in order to attend to prisoners rehabilitation programs.
The Buimo Prison has 935 detainees. 449 of them are convicts while 506 are remandees. The accommodation capacity of the prison is to cater for only 500 detainees.
A cellblock can only accommodate 60 to 70 detainees. However, Buimo’s Prison Commander, Felix Namane said currently there are more than 130 detainees in a cell room.
The Health concern among the detainees is a risk. Just last week, a detainee died from TB and in September this year, a detainee with dysentery was confirmed dead at Angau Hospital.
There are currently 56 confirmed TB cases in the Jail while 34 are suspected cases. They are currently being treated at Angau.
Namane has called on the Provincial Government to seriously look into the matter and assist with facilities to accommodate detainees with serious health cases.
