COLOMBO – Opposition MP Lakshman Kiriella on Monday (16) raised concerns about the Bogambara Prison being used as a quarantine centre, saying it posed a grave threat to the city of Kandy and the whole district.
Kiriella told reporters Monday that the new quarantine centre established in the former Bogambara Prison with 800 prison inmates was a threat to Kandy as it is located in the centre of the city and its staff are interacting with the city daily. The Kandy prison has been moved to Pallekelle and Bogambara is being described by the Prison’s Department as a Transit Centre for incoming inmates.
Several hundred inmates of the facility have tested positive for COVID-19, the Prison’s Commissioner acknowledged Sunday (15) night.
Noting that during the Yahapalana government the Bogambara Prison was set to be developed as a tourist attraction, Kiriella said the current government had turned it to a quarantine centre, and arbitrarily brought in 800 prisoners for quarantine purposes, heightening the possibility of the virus being spread in Kandy.
He called on the government to relocate the quarantine centre to another place.
Chandana Ekanayake, Media Spokesman for the Department of Prisons, when queried about the concerns, assured there was no threat of the Bogambara Prison staff spreading the virus in the Kandy city as they are not allowed to interact with outsiders. He also said they had all been given quarters within the prison premises.
However, he did not comment on the number of COVID-19 cases reported from the Bogambara Prison.
Last week a group of 50 inmates at the Bogambara Prison staged a protest by climbing onto the roof of the prison, calling on authorities to subject the inmates to PCR tests due to a spread of the coronavirus within the jail.
As of Sunday, a total of 437 COVID-19 cases had been reported from Sri Lanka’s Prisons across the country.
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