GENERAL SANTOS CITY — The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) is pushing for the completion of the PHP28 million cell expansion project at the city jail or reformatory by the second quarter next year.
Senior Jail Officer 3 Ulysses Caspillo, unit paralegal officer of the BJMP here, said Monday the construction of the additional cells at the city jail in Purok Lanton, Barangay Apopong, is in full swing.
Caspillo said the project, which formally began last August, has a completion target of 280 days or about nine months.
BJMP has fast-tracked the project’s implementation to ease the worsening congestion at the facility, which currently hosts some 2,060 inmates, the official said.
“The jail is currently congested by about 450 percent,” he pointed out.
The expansion project, which involves the construction of 28 additional cells, will almost triple the jail’s cell capacity. The city jail has 15 cells, with a capacity of 10 inmates each. However, each cell currently houses more than 50 inmates.
Caspillo said overcrowding at the cells mainly poses problems in terms of security and health of the inmates.
He, however, said they were able to manage the situation so far through regular sanitation and health-related activities.
“We immediately provide proper medicine to our sick inmates and there are some non-government organizations that conduct periodic medical checkups and (provide) some medicines, as well,” he said.
To help address congestion, Caspillo said they have expanded the implementation of the “good conduct and time allowance” measures to facilitate the early release of inmates. (PNA)
