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The British government has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Ghana to undertake projects aimed at improving the conditions of prisons to meet international standards. The project, dubbed �Transformational Project,� will cost �483,000 and is intended to assist the Ghana Prisons Service to decongest prisons and implement best practices of keeping offenders. As part of the project, the British government will renovate and upgrade some facilities at Nsawam, Ankaful, and Sekondi prisons in the Eastern, Central and Western regions, respectively. It will also help to create a court dedicated to remand prisoners to reduce their number in the country. As part of the project, the capacities of prisons officers will also be built to enhance their skills in correcting the inmates. Projects The British High Commissioner to Ghana, Mr Jon Benjaman, signed the MoU for Britain, while the Minister of Interior, Mr Mark Woyongo, initialled for Ghana. The High Commissioner also presented 5,000 mosquito nets to the Ghana Prisons Service. Mr Benjamin in his address indicated that the support to the three prisons was based on a report submitted by a United Nations rapporteur and a United Kingdom expert who were invited separately to assess the standard of Ghana�s prisons last year. As part of the project, the Nsawam Prison Infirmary will be refurbished to improve healthcare delivery and to provide two new buses to transport inmates from the prisons to the courts. He mentioned that the British High Commission had established paralegals offices at the Nsawam and Kumasi Prisons to assist remand prisoners with their cases. Sentencing For his part, the Minister of the Interior, Mr Woyongo, said overcrowding was one of the major challenges for local prisons. According to him, although prisons should have a holding capacity of 9,000, they were holding more than 14,000 inmates. �The worst part is that some of the prisons have overstretched their official occupancy rate by over 300 per cent,� he stated. He expressed worry over the poor health facilities in the prisons, saying �the prison environment is a fertile ground for all sorts of ailments, including communicable diseases.� As part of efforts by the government to provide a holistic approach to criminal justice administration, Mr Woyongo announced that a forum to gather inputs for the adoption of a non-custodial sentencing policy was also to be held this month. Introducing alternative sentences to imprisonment (such as the community service), Mr Woyongo said, would go a long way to decongest the prisons. �It will also facilitate social integration of offenders since community sanctions prevent offenders from the deprivation and hardship associated with imprisonment and its attendant anti-social behaviour after discharge,� he stated. Mr Woyongo expressed profound gratitude to the British government for the immense support and added that GH�37,576 of the total amount to be spent on the project has already been released for work to begin.