The Justice Minister made this revelation at the Information Ministry’s periodic ministerial public session called Mansa Kunda, which enables the public to come face-to-face with public officials and ask questions pertinent to the work of their respective ministries.
“What I can tell you is, we, as recently as this week, there are meetings that I attended where prison issues have been discussed at a very high level. And plans are, we will be visiting prisons ourselves, and we'll be looking at the conditions of the prisons, with the intention of improving the conditions…,” Minister Jallow said, in response to a question from this reporter on the matter.
Mr Dawda Jallow’s revelations came in an earlier follow up exclusive interview with the Director General of Prison Services, Mr Ansumana Manneh, discussing reforms, where he disclosed that for the Gambia’s prison system to be in line with international standards, a new central prison is required.
“And I think the government is aware of that. They are taking all efforts to do that. Previously, Jeshwang Prisons was identified. [However], the facility there is not spacious enough [for such a plan],” he said.
Manneh explained that when authorities conducted an assessment on what type of prison they wanted to build, Jeshwang facility is not fit for the purpose. “So therefore, the Ministry of Interior is now trying to look at another place which is bigger than Jeshwang. Yes, but already, the ambition is there. Efforts are on,” he said.
He further said that the current prison structures have been inherited from the colonial time, and most of the conditions of these structures are completely obsolete. So, there is expansion ongoing in Jeshwang where most of the inmates are accommodated to address the issue of overcrowding.
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