By Mustapha Kamara Jn
Prison Watch Sierra Leone, a nongovernmental organization, has donated assorted food items and water and sanitation materials to eleven correctional centers across the country.
The donation exercise had been ongoing since early this year and last Friday`s presentation at the Approved School, a juvenile detention facility at Thunder Hill in the east end of Freetown, marked the end.
Ahmed Saliue Jalloh, Administrative Assistant of Prison Watch, said the program targeted vulnerable juvenile and correctional homes across the country.
The items were also donated to Remand Homes at May Street in Kingtom, and other correctional centres in Kailahun, Bo, Pujehun, Bonth, as well as the Kenema and Freetown Female correctional centers.
Jalloh, speaking at the Thunder Hill ceremony, disclosed that the funds used to provide the items were provided by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) under the Access to Justice Sector to support vulnerable institutions and homes.
The donated items cost over 40 million Leones and are intended to provide food for juvenile delinquents and prisoners in light of the ongoing Ebola crisis, he said.
“We also provided these WASH materials so that the young boys and girls would have safe water to drink and would be able to wash their hands. We decided to do so to complement the government of Sierra Leone’s effort to eradicating the deadly Ebola virus,” Jalloh said.
The Prison Watch Administrative Assistant advised officials of the two juvenile homes to ensure that the fundamental human rights of juvenile prisoners were protected and to encourage them to abstain from committing crime and to imbibe good character outside the correctional centers when they shall have left.
“Even though they have committed crimes, they are entitled to enjoy certain fundamental human rights,” Jalloh stressed.
A representative from the Ministry of Social Welfare and head of the Kingtom Remand Home, David Conteh, thanked Prison Watch for the donation and promised that the items would be used for their intended purposes.
In a related programme, Prison Watch also donated five computer machines to the Sierra Leone Law Court , Sierra Leone Prisons and the Central Police Station in Freetown, as well as to the office of the director of public prosecution so that they would be able to keep accurate records of all cases and prisoners.
© Politico 16/03/15
