Major upgrades to facilities at Bomana Correctional Institution (BCI) has boosted the Correctional Services’ ability to safely manage and house detainees during the coronavirus pandemic. Detainees unwell with COVID-19 can now be held in safe and secure isolation from the general prison population, following the official opening of the dedicated facilities. The upgrade includes a 49-bed Separate Confinement Unit and a 15-bed Test Compound to house unwell detainees and those awaiting test results. This is part of Australia’s continued support to PNG’s COVID-19 preparedness and response efforts. The K1.17 million project, funded by the Australian Government through the PNG-Australia Partnership, involved extensive works on the former Maximum Security Institute to create a Separate Confinement Unit equipped with upgraded security and living facilities – including amenities suitable for people living with a disability - and the conversion of a disused building at the Correctional Services Training College into a Test Compound for up to 15 detainees being transferred from other parts of the corrections system. Correctional Service Minister Win Bakri Daki said the confinement of people in close proximity to one another made prisons a high-risk environment for COVID-19 infection. He said this risk was amplified in many institutions by chronic over-crowding and the opening of the Separate Confinement Unit and Testing Compound was a major boost to Correctional Service’s efforts to safely manage detainees infected, or suspected of carrying, the coronavirus. “We are committed to helping tackle COVID-19 in PNG prisons. We also have a duty of care for the health and safety of detainees, Correctional Service officers and their families,” Minister Daki said. “These facilities will go a long way to helping us fulfil that obligation by enabling us to house infected detainees in isolation from the broader prison population.” Australian High Commissioner Jon Philp said the Australian Government was committed to doing everything it could to help PNG combat COVID-19. “These facilities are part of Australia’s broader support for PNG’s pandemic response that will save lives and keep people safe.”

Mr Philp said in addition to funding the construction of the Separate Confinement Unit and the Test Compound, the Australian Government had provided the Correctional Services with cleaning supplies, personal protective equipment and other vital supplies. More broadly, Australia has sent expert medical teams and provided 8000 vaccine doses to PNG to inoculate frontline medical staff and emergency workers against COVID-19, as well as ongoing support for extensive COVID19 public health campaigns.