Hakea 'fails' Muslim prisoners
WA's major remand jail for men is struggling to cope with the needs of more Indonesian prisoners, the State's independent prisons watchdog warned yesterday.
Inspector of Custodial Services Neil Morgan said the Department of Corrective Services faced possible legal action over Hakea Prison's failure to provide certified Halal meat to accommodate the religious diets of a big number of Muslim prisoners.
Tabling a report in State Parliament on an announced inspection of Hakea in November, Professor Morgan said the department's claims that meat slaughtered at Karnet prison farm and supplied to jails across WA conformed to Halal practices were found to be false.
Professor Morgan also called communication between Karnet staff and Indonesian prisoners as "stilted and haphazard", saying it sometimes relied on an untrustworthy system which requires prisoners and jail officers to act as interpreters.
His report highlighted continuing problems with "extreme overcrowding" at Hakea, describing "degrading and unpleasant" sleeping arrangements which required prisoners in some cells to use mattresses on floors with their heads placed next to toilet bowls.
Professor Morgan's report came as Corrective Services Minister Christian Porter told State Parliament that the Government would soon have more prison beds than prisoners. Mr Porter said 4813 prisoners were now in the system but there would be 5002 prison beds by the end of the month.
"For the first time in a very long time we now have excess capacity based on the infrastructure program that we've successfully delivered in 18 months," he said.
The prison population has surgedsince new parole board chief Justice Narelle Johnston took over and tightened requirements.
Mr Porter conceded the rapid rise in prison capacity had been mainly achieved through "double-bunking", which prison officers union boss John Welsh warned was a stopgap.
"Double bunking should be a short-term response to a critical problem," Mr Welsh said.
"The prison system is designed for 3400 prisoners so essentially what they've done is put more beds into the same room." Hakea superintendent Ian Clark said the inspector's report had acknowledged that professional and dedicated prison staff had handled difficult circumstances "remarkably well".
"Hakea is unique in the WA prison system," Mr Clark said.
"Staff deal daily with people still suffering the effects of drugs and alcohol, people who are bewildered by finding themselves in prison, perhaps for the first time, and a range of mental health and other significant challenges."
