Mahesh Bindra MP
Spokesperson for Corrections
29 JULY 2015

Increase in Double Bunking Pure Folly

Disaster looms over Mt Eden prison unless double bunking is stopped, with its population exceeding its maximum today, says New Zealand First.

“The National Government decided to squeeze prisoners into the cells of an already unsafe prison, says New Zealand First Corrections Spokesperson Mahesh Bindra.

“There is no surprise that now it is in crisis under a private, profit making company

“Mt Eden is slipping into Third World status, where crowded prisons and lack of staff are the norm, because the government has allowed Serco to put its low staffing, profit making model in place.

“Bringing a profit making foreign corporation in has only worsened the situation.

“Double bunking and staff shortages are part of Mt Eden’s problems, and National wants to continue to add another 100 beds into this already over-crowded prison.

“National started to put two prisoners in a cell designed for one and it’s dangerous.

“SERCO staff are still working at Mt Eden and under SERCO’s staffing model, which is not the effective staff to prisoner ratio that Corrections-run public prisons use.

“We don’t understand why the government continues to put lives at risk by overfilling Mt Eden when there is capacity at other prisons – it’s pure folly,” says Mr Bindra, a former Senior Corrections Officer.

ENDS

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