Nepal: ICRC completes major repairs at Kaski District Jail

The project was today officially handed over to Anil Kumar Pandey, Director General of the Prison Management Department.

The renovation work, which started in October 2007, included the installation of an environmentally friendly bio-gas system – carried out thanks to the expertise of Biogas Support Programme – Nepal (BSP-N) - that greatly improves sanitation conditions in and around the jail premises and reduces kerosene consumption. The ICRC also constructed a new kitchen and eating area, as well as water storage tanks and a network of pipes which will improve the quantity and quality of safe water available to inmates. It also trained inmates and prison staff to enable them to properly maintain the improved infrastructures. The total cost of the project amounts to over 4,000,000 Nepalese Rupees (70,000 Swiss francs).

" Thanks to this project the living conditions of inmates at Kaski jail will improve, " said Mary Werntz, Head of the ICRC delegation in Nepal. " However, it is now up to the government to maintain these facilities since it is solely responsible for ensuring acceptable living conditions for inmates at Kaski jail and all other places of detention in Nepal. "

Kaski District Jail is one of several places of detention where the ICRC, in collaboration with the Prison Management Department, has been working on improving conditions. Where possible, the ICRC uses renewable and environment-friendly energy sources and technologies such as bio-gas and improved cooking stoves that use less traditional fuel and reduce air pollution inside prison buildings.

Apart from its work in places of detention, the ICRC in Nepal also carries out water, sanitation and infrastructure projects in favour of communities and medical structures such as district hospitals particularly affected by situations of violence. Nationwide, the ICRC has completed or is working on 40 water and habitat projects, 23 of them in places of detention.