Work has begun on an 800-capacity accommoda-tion facility for remand prisoners at the Medium Security Prisons in Nsawam.
The GH¢50 million project will comprise an infirmary, a 16-unit accommodation block for staff, a kitchen, an administration block, a visitors’ lodge and a reception centre.

Other facilities to be provided will include a playing field, a church, a mosque and disability friendly amenities.

Work is scheduled to be completed in 18 months.

The initiative

The initiative is in response to a call for support for the “Efiase Project’ introduced by the Board of Directors of the Ghana Prisons Service to raise funds for improvement in the conditions of the country’s prisons.

President John Mahama has pledged GH¢50 million towards the construction of a remand prison for the Medium Security Prisons in Nsawam.

The prison, which is the largest in the country, has a huge prisoner population that is outstretching facilities available. In response to the appeal for help, a sod was recently cut for work to begin on the project.

Interior Minister visits

The Minister of the Interior, Mr Prosper Bani, visited the construction site last Friday to appraise himself with the extent of work so far.

The minister interacted with the contractors working on the project and assured them of the ministry’s assistance to ensure that the work was finished on schedule.

He was accompanied by the Director General of the Ghana Prisons Service, Mr Emmanuel Yao Adzator; the Eastern Regional Commander of Prisons, Deputy Director Of Prisons (DDP) Mr Isaac Agyir, and other officers from the service.

The Structural Clerk of the Architectural and Engineering Services  Limited (AESL), consultants on the project, Mr Joshua Azure, conducted the team round the project site.

At the time of the visit, workers of Bea Newt Company Limited, one of the construction companies attached to the project, were seen busily working.

Quality work

Mr Bani urged the workers to ensure quality and work hard in order to complete the project on schedule.

“I am satisfied with the progress of work just two months after the construction was begun. For whatever reason, we do not want you to compromise on the quality of work. Let us all do whatever we can to ensure that the project is completed early to ease pressure on the existing facilities,” he added.

Investment in prison infrastructure

For his part, Mr Adzator said when work on the facility was completed, it would be a huge relief to the Ghana Prisons Service as it would bring about improvement in the living conditions of inmates.

He observed that it was less costly to commit resources to improve the conditions in the prisons than to bear the effects of bad conditions that posed a lot of health and security risks.

He, therefore, called for more investments from both the public and private sectors to improve conditions in prisons.

More logistics

DDP Mr Agyir, who spoke on the Justice for all Programme, said it had helped to decongest the prison in Nsawam, following the release of some remand prisoners.

“But the facility for remand prisoners under construction is still very necessary because we continue to receive an average of 10 remand prisoners every day,” he said.

He said the inability of the Police to admit remand prisoners to their care because of logistical constraints accounted for the high remand prisoner population at the Medium Security Prisons in Nsawam.

DDP Agyir called for more support from the government, civil society organisations (CSOs), philanthropists and faith-based organisations so that pressure on the facility would be reduced.