A P10-million budget for the construction of more jail cells at the Bohol District Jail (BDJ) in Barangay Cabawan in Tagbilaran City was approved by the provincial government last week.

Jail Chief Insp. Rusylvi Abueva, BDJ warden, told DYRD Balita on Tuesday that the fund will cover the construction of 10 more jail cells in the overcrowded detention facility.

He said that each cell can accommodate 30-40 inmates.

Governor Edgar Chatto himself ordered the hastened implementation of the project in a bid to address the longstanding inmate congestion problem of the BDJ.

According to Abueva, the construction is expected to start in the third quarter of 2017 while officials await the approval of the facility’s design.

He said that the jail cells will be an open area enclosed by steel bars to lessen heat and prevent the spread of diseases among inmates.

Currently, the BDJ is populated by 895 detainees.

In October, BDJ ooficials admitted that the facility’s 25 cells which were designed to hold 400 inmates were already overcrowded with 740 detainees.

Abueva noted that the prisoner population of the BDJ is expected to further rise this year amid the police’s continued crackdown on illegal drugs.  (Allen Doydora)