GOVT SPENDS E222M REHABILITATING PRISONS

MBABANE – Government has spent E222.06 million on the rehabilitation of prisons, a project that has been ongoing for the past 12 years.

So far, His Majesty’s Correctional Services (HMCS) has been able to renovate facilities in Big Bend, Bhalekane and Matsapha.
There are 11 main facilities for the institution, which are:

• HMCS Headquarters in Mbabane
• Mbabane Correctional (Sidwashini);
• Big Bend
• Malkerns Young Person Correctional
• Vulamasango Schools
• Mawelawela Correctional
• Mankayane Correctional
• Matsapha Correctional
• Correctional Staff College (Matsapha)
• Nhlangano Correctional
• Pigg’s Peak Correctional

It must be said that the total estimated project cost in the current financial year, which commenced on April 1, 2024, has been fixed at E262 million. It effectively means the project is now left with E40.15 million, depending on whether government would approve an increase as many facilities have not been upgraded or renovated around the country.

Rehabilitation

There are two projects appearing similar or almost which are being undertaken concurrently by the HMCS. The Rehabilitation of Prisons is marked ‘P315 and Improvement of Prison Facilities numbered P312’. The estimated total project cost for the improvement of prison facilities is E79 761 000. In the previous financial years, a sum of E3 million was needed for the procurement of plumbing, electrical material, refrigeration maintenance, steel works, carpentry works, painting, glazing and re-flooring of kitchens. Under project titled ‘The improvements of prison facilities’, a sum of E54 306 000 had been utilised by March 31, 2022.

On the other hand, it has been established that E57 306 000 had been utilised by March 31, 2023, with E3 million needed in the current financial year for the procurement of plumbing, electrical material, refrigeration maintenance, steel works, carpentry works and painting. Meanwhile, in the current financial year, HMCS has been offered a budget of E20 million for the main project ‘Rehabilitation of Prisons’.

Demolition

The money will be used for the rehabilitation of a kitchen, security towers; demolition of dormitories and the construction of a soccer field for inmates. If the E20 million is released in the current financial year to finance the construction of the sports field and other facilities, the actual expenditure for the project will reflect a sum of E242.064 million in the next financial year. When the project began in the 2012 financial year, its estimated total budget was E87 million.

Over the years, the costs have been escalating just like other projects that government has been funding in some ministries and government departments. In the 2012 financial year, a budget of E10 million was set aside for the rehabilitation of four Correctional institutions, which were Malkerns Juvenile, Matsapha, Mbabane and Nhlangano. However, financial records for 2013 indicated that the project had not yet commenced, but a budget of E20 million was approved for the rehabilitation and construction of new structures at Big Bend Correctional facility.

Utilised

In the 2015 financial year, records indicate that E19.9 million had been utilised for the project. It must be said that a sum of E5 million was needed in the same financial year that was to begin April 1, 2015, for the rehabilitation of Big Bend Correctional facility, staff houses and construction of four flats. This time, it has been established that government had spent E39.05 million on the project titled ‘Rehabilitation of prisons’. During the 2017/2018 financial year, the estimated total cost of the project escalated to E120 002 000. In the same financial year (2017), a budget of E20 million was approved for the completion of the rehabilitation of Big Bend prison and four blocks of flats and payment of consultancy fees. It escalated to E135.38 million in 2019, with the actual expenditure since the project started reaching E60.38 million.

Approved

A budget of E70 million was approved for the rehabilitation of prisons in the financial year that commenced on April 1, 2019. The budget was to cater for the following works:

• E3 640 000 for the completion of Big Bend staff housing
• E5 000 000 for construction of a sewer system at Bhalekane
• E61 360 000 for rehabilitation of Matsapha Maximum Correctional Centre.

The project continued in the next financial year which began on April 1, 2020, with the estimated project cost increasing to E190 949 000 while the actual expenditure amounted to E62.22 million. It was in this financial year (2020) that another budget for Matsapha was approved. A sum of E50 million was set aside for the rehabilitation of Matsapha Maximum and Medium Correctional Centre. The estimated total project cost also increased in 2021, reaching E190 949 000, with the actual expenditure reaching E132.22 million.

In this financial year, HMCS’s allocation for the project was E30 million. It was requested for the rehabilitation of Matsapha Medium and Maximum Correctional facility.
HMCS said the money was to rehabilitate the following:

• Cell blocks,
• Perimetre wall fence,
• Administration block,
• Bakery unit,
• Workshops and clinic.

This, therefore, took the estimated total project to E262 223 000. Notably, since the 2022 financial year, the estimated total project cost has not changed from E262 223 000. In 2022, government allocated a sum of E40 million to HMCS for Phase II of the rehabilitation works and equipment at Matsapha Correctional facility. The actual expenditure recorded in 2022 stood at E182.223 million.

Budget

The money also went to Matsapha in 2023. Government approved a sum of E20 million for the rehabilitation of Matsapha Central Correctional Centre. The budget catered for the construction of new cell blocks, security wall, kitchen and administration block. Senior Superintendent Gugulethu Dlamini, the Public Relations Officer for HMCS, said the project outline indicated that other Correctional facilities would also be renovated. She said anybody who was complaining about the manner in which the project was being undertaken should bear in mind that money did not come in full on a yearly basis. She said the reason for the project to take long to be completed was that HMCS received the money in stages  to finance specified works approved for execution in that particular financial year.

Asked when the project would be completed, Dlamini was not sure about the completion date. Due to financial constraints or inadequate budget, she said the project was sometimes halted. The public relations officer said the two projects (rehabilitation of prisons and improvement of prison facilities) looked similar, but they were different in model, purpose and execution.

Improvement

Pertaining to the ‘Improvement of prison facilities’, she said it focused on items that needed some fixing. They include plumbing, electrical material, refrigeration maintenance, steel works, carpentry works, painting, glazing and re-flooring of kitchens. It is understood that the other project entailed large-scale rehabilitation of buildings and construction of houses, among other things. Asked about the soccer field that would be constructed, Senior Superintendent Dlamini said it would be built for inmates, not Green Mamba, a premier league team, which, she said, had its own sports ground.

“We are not building a soccer field for Green Mamba,” she said.Green Mamba are owned by HMCS.She said the projects, of course, were funded by government.
Nduduzo Simelane, the Secretary General of the Correctional Services Staff Association, said he could only issue a statement on this issue after he had liaised with the executive committee.
He had assured the News Desk that he would revert after they had reached consensus. Simelane did not answer the call when he was telephoned at 6:10pm, 6:15pm and 6:30pm. He had not done so at the time of going to press. Correctional officers speaking on condition of anonymity said the Office of the Auditor General (AG) should conduct an auditing of the project from its inception to the current financial year.

Correctional

This is because, they said, it looked like a lot of money was spent on a few Correctional facilities. “A sum of E222 million is a lot of money,” one of them said. They said each of the facilities would have received E20 million if the over E200 million was evenly distributed. Tradition has it that the AG does not publicly comment on audit targets. Thembinkosi Dlamini, the Executive Director of the Coordinating Assembly of Non-Governmental Organisations (CANGO), said it was the high time that the Office of the AG tobe empowered with the resources to do special audits in such instances.

Dlamini said special audit involved detailed examination of issues related to serious allegation of fraud, corruption, wastage, misappropriation of assets or mismanagement of public resources. He said this went beyond the scope of financial statements audit, performance audit or compliance audit. The executive director said people who knew the rules well could ‘game’ the rules such that they would come clean in all the three categories of procedural audits listed above yet ‘they are found wanting in a special audit’.

Typically, he said the AG would need financial resources and the legal authority to recruit and retain specialist skills in the short-term from the private sector to do carry out his mandate.
“This is also done to guarantee the independence of such an audit and increase the likelihood of a reliability of the audit outcome,” Dlamini suggested, without saying there was something untoward about the project.

Treatment

The United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (Inmates) set out what is generally accepted as being good principle and practice in the treatment of inmates and the management of institutions. The UN says there shall be separation between juveniles and adults, civil and criminal offenders, untried and convicted inmates. As far as possible, men and women shall be detained in separate institutions.

• Accommodation: Pertaining to accommodation, the UN states that cells for individuals shall not be used to accommodate more than one person overnight. Communal cells shall only house inmates who have been carefully selected to share them. It is stated that all facilities shall meet the requirements regarding health, heating, ventilation, floor space, sanitary facilities and lighting.
• Education and recreation: Further education shall be provided to all prisoners, says the UN. Schooling of illiterates and young inmates shall be compulsory. As far as possible, the schooling shall be in accordance with the country’s educational system so that inmates can continue their studies without difficulty after being released.Additionally, recreational and cultural activities like sports, music and other hobbies shall be available to all prisoners.
• Medical services: The UN standards provide that, at least, one qualified medical officer who also has some knowledge of psychiatry shall be available in each institution. Sick inmates who need special treatment shall be transferred to a civil hospital. In women’s institutions, there shall be special provision for pre and post-natal treatment.
• Rules: According to the UN, the purpose and justification of a sentence of imprisonment or a similar measure is ultimately to protect society against crime. This end can only be achieved if the period of imprisonment is used to ensure that upon the offender’s return to society he/she is willing and able to lead a law-abiding and self-supporting life. To this end, the institution shall utilise appropriate and available remedial, educational, moral and spiritual forms of assistance.
• Classification and individualisation: Inmates, according to the UN, shall be divided into classes in order to facilitate their treatment with a view to their social rehabilitation. Those who may be a bad influence on others shall be separated from the general population.
• Treatment: Inmates’ social and criminal history, personal temperament, and physical and mental capacities shall be taken into account. The treatment shall encourage their self-respect and develop their sense of responsibility.
• Work: The United Nations states that inmates under sentence shall be required to work, but this work must not cause distress. The daily and weekly working hours shall be set according to local rules, leave one rest day a week and sufficient time for education and other activities. Work is to be remunerated equitably and inmates shall have the right to spend part of their earnings on approved articles and to send money home.

• Vocational training shall be provided for inmates able to profit from it and, especially for young ones.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: