By Yiep Joseph
Central Equatoria State government, with support from the Turkish Embassy, on Friday unveiled the foundation stone for the construction of the Juba County prison facility in Kapuri, Luri Payam.
According to the officials, the construction of the new prison facility which would be completed in ten months, will help decongest Juba Central Prison.
The new prison, which occupies 10,000 (100×100) meters of land north of Juba County, is expected to be one of the most modern facilities for Central Equatoria State once completed.
Addressing the gathering during the laying of the foundation stone in Luri, Juma Doka Legge, Director of Prison Service for Central Equatoria State, expressed that “this (construction of the new prison) would reduce overcrowding in Juba National Prison.”
He revealed that Central Equatoria, like other states, lacks correctional centres, revealing that out of six counties, only two have functional prison centers.
“Honourable governor, the prison service in Central Equatoria has a total of six county prisons located across the CES; only Terekeka County has today 101 inmates and Yei County Prison has 94; the other four counties’ prisons are not functioning,” Doka said.
He expressed that the current Juba National Prison is over-congested with more than 3,000 inmates, making it hard to maintain hygiene.
The director urged the national government to support the state government in ensuring that all counties have prisons for transforming wrongdoers.
On his part, Turkish Ambassador to South Sudan Erdem Mutaf said his home government continues to support South Sudan.
He added that these projects worth millions of dollars would create jobs for South Sudanese.
“The project total cost will be 30 million United States dollars, and the project will employ 300 South Sudanese,” Mutaf said.
He added that more than 1000 inmates will be accommodated by the new prison after completion.
He promised that the project would be completed in 10 months, adding that Turkish engineers, in partnership with their South Sudanese counterparts, would deliver as requested.
Meanwhile, Central Equatoria state governor Augustino Jadalla Wani stated that the status of Juba prison is inhuman and hence the new facility would be a remedy.
“The people in Juba and especially the facility in Juba are crowded with more than 3000 inmates, which is inhuman, and this one, I think, is going to help,” Jadalla said.
“This facility is going to be important to provide a good impact to our people here, especially the inmates,” he added.
The governor urged that it should be constructed in a modern way, stressing that the inmates are not there to be subjected to suffering but to be transformed.
He appreciated partners and Turkish Embassy for their support and for always standing with the people of South Sudan.
In his part, Eng Mayom Jook, the Managing Director of MADO Construction and Enterprise, promised to complete the project as planned.
He added that the facility, when completed, would offer transformation and growth to inmates.
Mayom added that the communities would benefit from the projects.
last year, the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Ruben Madol Arol, while meeting representatives of the judiciary, revealed that there were over 500 pending cases in the 12 police divisions, 300 of which have not yet been classified as criminal or civil cases.
The minister urged the prosecutors, police investigators, and the judiciary to double their efforts in clearing the backlog of cases to decongest Juba Central Prison.