Telephone facilities for inmates as prisons suspend outside visitors | Daily News

Telephone facilities for inmates as prisons suspend outside visitors

The Department of Prisons yesterday (16) decided to re-introduce telephone facilities for prison inmates to contact family members and relatives.

Commissioner of Prisons (Rehabilitation) Chandana Ekanayake said, the availability of the telephone was provided in March for a short period due to the COVID-19, as visitations for family and relatives were stopped.

“Now it has been reintroduced as visits to prisons have been halted again due to the current COVID-19 situation in the country.

There will be around 30 telephone lines available in prisons across the country”.

He further added, an inmate is only allowed a three-minute conversation, once a week.

“The inmate will be accompanied by a rehabilitation officer when making the call, in case of emergency and dire necessity another call is allowed. The inmate should give all details of the call to the officer”.

On October (5) all the prisons had temporarily halted the visitation for family members and relatives when a second wave of the COVID-19 virus resurfaced in the country.