Authorites In Juba Prison Say Prison Overcrowded

24 February 2011 – (Nairobi) – Juba prison authorities say the prison is becoming overcrowded due to an increase of inmates.

An administrator of Juba Prison, Lieutenant Colonel Gabriel Matuur Matoj told SRS on Wednesday in Juba that the prison does not have the capacity to accommodate more inmates.

[Lt. Colonel Gabriel Matur] “The space is not enough for all our prisoners here, because initially the prison was built to accommodate 5 hundred inmates, but now it has become overcrowded with 9 hundred and 84 prisoners. Among the other challenges that we are facing is lack of water, however, we have dug a borehole so as to help with the situation, but it is not yet connected all the way to the prison, so basically we still buy water.

Colonel Matur further said that the prison authorities are planning to build another prison to accommodate the increasing number of inmates.

[Colonel Gabriel Matur]: “In regard to the future arrangements, we are planning to build another prison in an agricultural area, because this prison is not big enough and also, so that the inmates get the opportunity of producing agricultural products for their nation”

That was Lieutenant Colonel Matur speaking to SRS in Juba on Wednesday.