The Nsawam Medium Security Prisons in the Eastern Region were Sunday, May 17, fumigated and disinfected as part of measures to prevent the spread of Coronavirus.
Since the outbreak of the virus and its subsequent declaration as a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO) some five months ago, prisons have come under the spotlight for the fear of being hotspot.
Some countries including Iran took deliberate steps to decongest prisons by freeing about 54, 000 prisoners to mitigate the spread of the virus.
In Ghana, President Akufo-Addo in March granted amnesty to 808 prisoners in accordance with a recommendation by the Prisons Service Council and in consultation with the Council of State as provided for in Article 72 (1) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana.
The fumigation and disinfection exercise at the Nsawam prisons was carried out by an environmental management company, Dansworld International Services Limited (DISL), which specializes in facility management services and supervised by the Eastern Regional Prisons Commander.
Deputy Superintendent of Prisons and PRO of the Nsawam Medium Security Prisons, Adamu Latif Abdul, was grateful for the proactive gesture of Dansworld.
“We are grateful to Dansworld and their management for this exercise. Even though we haven’t recorded any case here so far, the nature of our prisons and its management is such that, it will be difficult to practice social distancing with the inmates. Therefore, such activities are really important as they help us prevent Covid-19 from entering the prisons at all, even though we are adhering to other protocols”, he said.
He called on other corporate organizations to assist the facility with face masks, hand sanitisers, thermometers and food to help boost their immune system.
Chief Executive Officer of the Ghanaian Company, Bernard Danso Ntow, explained they obliged to contribute to the fight against the pandemic.
“Well, we can’t leave the whole preventive efforts of Covid-19 on Government. Our prisons service, as you saw when we entered can barely practice social distancing, so these measures like constant fumigation is very important to prevent the virus from entering there”, he said.
By 3news.com|Ghana