New buildings lying idle, prisoners housed in old buildings

Construction of a new jail with a capacity to accommodate 2,000 prisoners began in Khulna in 2011. As the new facility did not open, prisoners huddled in the old prison.

Documents show no feasibility study was carried out before taking up the Khulna District Jail project, thus, faults often occurred after undertaking the construction work. Those errors in the construction work were amended from time to time.

To date, the project duration has been extended thrice, but the Department of Prisons has not yet completed it. Several buildings built under the project remained vacant for several years, thus, those became abandoned. Besides, the construction materials kept inside the facilities have been stolen.

The scenario of Mymensingh Central Jail is also similar. No feasibility study was run prior to this project, and faults often occurred during the project implementation, and amendments followed as usual.

At least 10 buildings have been remaining abandoned in the Mymensingh Central Jail for quite some time while window grills and glasses are often stolen.

Such a dire state in prisons was revealed in two separate reports released by the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) in August.

Project officials concerned admitted taking up the projects without any feasibility study and receiving approval hurriedly. But, it is mandatory to run a feasibility study before initiating any such project. Officials were active in getting the project approval as much as they became inactive in project implementation.

Prisons across the country are not only old and dilapidated but also insecure. Bogura and Narsingdi district jails are two such examples that shed light recently on the lack of security at prisons. Four death row convicts escaped from condemned cells in Bogura district jail digging holes in the roof. However, they were arrested several hours later.

The police said the escapees managed to dig holes due to the British-era structure since the roof was constructed using bricks, sands, and mixture of brick dust and lime, but no iron rods.

The Narsingdi district jail, another old and derelict facility, came under attack and arms were looted on 19 July during the quota reform movement.

A total of 826 prisoners escaped, drawing flaks across the country. Many prisoners also returned while some were arrested later.

According to the Department of Prisons, the construction of new prison facilities in Khulna, Mymensingh, Narsingdi, Jamalpur and Cumilla have been undergoing for a long time, from five to 13 years. Despite taking such a long time, the authorities could complete no single project.

With projects delay, cost rises. The cost of the five projects rose to Tk 16.75 billion now. Officials at the Department of Prisons, however, acknowledged the jail construction projects should not take this long.

Had the feasibility study been carried out such a situation would have not arisen, they added.

The Khulna district jail construction project was approved in 2011 at a cost of Tk 1.44 billion. The facility has a capacity to accommodate 544 prisoners, but currently it houses about 2,000 prisoners.

The project deadline was 2016, which was extended thrice and the work finally ended in August, but a portion of the work remains unfinished. The project cost was revised to Tk 2.88 billion, exactly double of the original cost.

Officials at IMED said an apartment of 650 sqft was constructed for the employees of the Khulna district jail, but such a small apartment is not suitable for a family of five. So, the employees are reluctant to live here and they said the size of the apartment should have been 800 sqft.

There was no road to carry goods to the jail, later new roads were added.

IMED said the boundary wall of the jail was not erected as per the design. Land development lowers the height of the wall, thus, outsiders enter the facility jumping over it and steal things. A significant risk poses in the area.

Rust has infected the iron rods of staff quarters, barracks of under-trial and convicted male prisoners, and administrative and meeting buildings since these facilities remained vacant for a long time.

The plan should have been taken to prevent salinity from constructing such buildings in the coastal area, but this did not happen, thus, the question arose now on the longevity of these buildings.

The prison drainage system was not connected to the town’s drainage system. IMED fears heavy rainfalls would cause waterlogging in the area.

There are currently 1,932 prisoners in the Mymensingh central jail against a capacity of 996 prisoners. The facility is two centuries old. The Mymensingh central jail project was passed in 2015 at a cost of Tk 2.40 billion and the project deadline is June 2025.

Construction of six buildings with a size of 600 sqft each was ended in 2019. Visiting the facility recently, these were found vacant. Construction of at least five buildings with the size of 800-1000 sqft also ended. None, however, stays there. The exterior looks like abandoned buildings with window grills and glasses being taken away.

As the land development did not happen next to these buildings, these facilities remain vacant. There are no roads to reach the buildings, which have no security wall and power and gas connections. These facilities lie abandoned for a long time.

Officials at the Mymensingh central jail said these buildings certainly have those problems. Besides, living costs are lower in the rented houses in the city than in the jail facilities. That is why many are reluctant to stay there.

According to the Department of Prisons, the deadline for the jail building construction was in 2018, but it was extended four times; yet, the work remains incomplete. The project deadline has been set anew to 2025. The initial cost was Tk 1.25 billion, which was revised to Tk 2.40 billion. The project progress is 45 per cent now.

According to the Department of Prisons, the Narsingdi district jail construction project began in 2019 and the deadline was 2022, which was extended to two more years. The project cost Tk 3.27 billion while the work progress is 50 per cent only.

The IMED report said no feasibility study was carried out for this project either. If it was conducted many problems would not have arisen later. There is an 11kv electric line inside the facility, and that has not been relocated as yet, hampering the construction work. The problem also persists in land acquisition and boundary issues.

IMED said blocks will be used in all projects as per the government order on bringing the use of bricks to zero by 2025, but environment-friendly blocks are not used in this project. The quality of some bricks used in the hospital and residential buildings was not satisfactory.

An IMED team visited the jail and found that the boundary wall, which generally remains high and gets highest importance during construction so that no prisoner could flee, being constructed at the jail is lower than the height mentioned in the design.

The capacity of Jamalpur district prison is 300. The government in 2020 gave an approval to a Tk 2.1 billion project to construct a new jail with double the capacity. The construction work was supposed to be completed in June next year. But only 12 per cent of the work has been done so far.

The construction of Cumilla central jail started in 2019. The Tk 6.1 billion project was supposed to end in June 2025 but the rate of construction work is not satisfactory either.

Project director for construction of Khulna, Narsingdi, and Cumilla jails is Moktar Ahmed. Speaking to Prothom Alo, he said they have been facing various problems as no feasibility study was not done before taking up the projects.

He could not say why no feasibility study was conducted.

Moktar Ahmed said there is no scope to use the building until the construction work is completed. The government has taken a decision to construct a 650 sq. ft. flat for the employees.

He further said they have not yet received the land for Cumilla jail which is causing the delay in the work.

So far 40 per cent work of the project has been completed, he added.

Mymensingh and Jamalpur jail construction work’s project director Subrata Kumar Roy told Prothom Alo the projects were once approved hurriedly. Had there any feasibility study been conducted at that time, there could not have been mistakes.

He said though the construction work is completed there is no scope to use the building, he added.

That is why some mistakes are being corrected, he said.

* This report appeared in the print and online editions of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten in English by Shameem Reza and Hasanul Banna