Overcrowding is a health risk in Lae’s Buimo Jail, the second biggest Prison in PNG.
Lae’s Buimo Prison is currently accommodating nearly 1,000 prisoners. These include more than 700 remandees who are still waiting for court hearings.
The overcrowding has raised many concerns in the prison and health is one of them.There are 52 confirmed prisoners and more than 5 officers with TB cases.
The overcrowding at Lae’s Buimo Prison has been a concern for over 10 years and little has been done.
The concern has continued and has caused many major problems such as escapes, inadequate food supplies and worst of all, a TB outbreak.
Buimo’s Prison Commander, Felix Namane, has confirmed that there are 52 confirmed prisoners with TB cases currently in prison.
The Jail Commander has also confirmed that overcrowding has caused the recent escapes and also of the other escapes in the past years.
There are currently more than 600 remandees in the prison. Namane said the delay of court hearings has contributed to the overcrowding.
Buimo Prison cellblock has a holding capacity of 40 men. Currently, there are over 100 detainees occupying the cell.
The situation in the prison is worse than one can imagine. The detainees take turns to sleep when night falls.
As we were leaving, 10 more prisoners were brought in by Lae’s Police. The number continues to grow every day.
