Around 15,000 remand prisoners have been prevented from obtaining bail due to delays in the issuing of Investigation Reports by the Government Analyst, the Commissioner General of Prisons, Major Gen. V. R. Silva, told the new Justice Minister Milinda Moragoda, yesterday.


Of those who had been taken in to custody for offences such as drug trafficking and the possession of firearms and explosives, most have been in custody for more than six months already, said the Prisons chief, when the minister visited Welikada Prison on an inspection tour.


At present there are 31,653 prisoners in 25 prisons spread around the country -- and that is 1.5% of the Sri Lankan population. Apart from the congestion in the prisons, the lack of personnel had become a grave problem, said the Prisons chief.


Briefing the minister on conditions prevailing at Welikada Prison, The Prisons chief observed that, though Welikada Prison was intended to house only 1,700 prisoners, it held some 6000 inmates at present. As many prisons were over 100 years old, they were in need of repairs and renovations, he added.


The minister had visited the Government Analysts Department yesterday itself -- and held discussions with the director of the Department and the other high officials there, to look for ways to expedite matters.