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The Northern Regional Command of the Ghana Prisons Service (GPS) has launched an appeal for corporate bodies, civil society organisations and philanthropists to assist the service to put up a clinic to cater for the health needs of prisoners, officers and their dependants. The need for health facility It said it had become necessary to have a clinic to forestall the situation where prison officers have to pay for their healthcare needs whenever they attended hospital. It said this was unlike what pertained in other security agencies such as the police and the Armed Forces who did not have to privately fund their health needs and were exempted from paying premium for the National Health Insurance Scheme. It said the police and the military have clinics around the country which made it easy for personnel to access healthcare unlike the Prisons Service where officers have to travel long distances with prisoners to seek medical attention. The Northern Regional Commander of the Ghana Prisons Service, Assistant Controller of Prisons (ACP), Mr Robert Kwodan Awolugutu, made the appeal at a meeting with mobile telephone service providers in Tamale. The meeting was called to solicit for support in either cash or kind towards the construction of a clinic, as well as other projects that could change the face of the prisons service and make it conform to international standards and best practices. ACP Awolugutu said the command had in place several skills training programmes that would equip prisoners with employable skills when they were out of prison but it was not able to effectively undertake them due to financial difficulties. He said when prisoner were trained, it allowed them to lead meaningful lives after their release from prison and also made them capable of contributing their quota to national development. He said some of the skills training programmes available in the prison for which they needed support were basket weaving, vegetable farming, smock weaving, livestock rearing, car-washing, barbering, crocheting, bakery and hairdressing for female prisoners. He said in view of frequent power cuts, the prisons needed a standby generator, as well as facilities for harvesting rainwater. "We are using this platform to appeal for assistance so we can provide the needed infrastructure and well-equipped workshops for prisoners to learn skills that will help them integrate successfully into the society after their discharge," he said. Lack of transportation ACP Awolugutu said the command was at the moment facing transportation difficulties since the only vehicle serving both the Tamale male and female prisons, which have over 300 prisoners, frequently breaks down. Under the circumstances, he said both prisoners and staff members relied on the vehicle belonging to the prisons administration to transport prisons for medical attention. He added that the prison�s only water tanker had also broken down for many years now and there was no money for repairs. The Northern Regional Commander of the Service observed that prisons in the region needed to be rehabilitated to make them friendlier.