East African Gazette
Kampala
Uganda Prisons Service has acquired the state of art wood drying kiln worth Shs 500 million which dries timber in one month.
Normally drying timber would take two years, but the state of the art kiln which uses fire wood and hot water takes a month to get the wood dried completely.
“Prisons have been spending sh 40m to dry 2,000 pieces of timber with private kilns in Kireka of which each piece was costing 20,000 shillings. However, with the acquisition of the new Kiln, prisons will reduce the total production cost to 2.5m for each round of seasoning timber,” the Commissioner General of Prisons Dr Johnson Byabashaija explained.
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Byabashaija noted that wood drying reduces the moisture content of wood before it’s used. Drying wood is important because big things go wrong if you don’t do it right, it causes unequal shrinkage in the wood.
With a production cost of 2.5m, the prison’s department will save sh 1500 on each of the 2000 dried pieces. The kiln that works twelve times a year has a capacity of eight hundred to one thousand each side. It can comfortably dry 2000 pieces of 12x1x14 inch.
The kiln can dry 2000 pieces of wood each side drying 1000 if properly packed.
For quite some time, prisons have had the best furniture in Uganda which is why President Museveni directed all Government institutions to purchase furniture from prisons.
In the year 2016, President Museveni directed all public institutions, State house and the entire Government agencies to buy furniture made by Uganda Prison Services.
So far 30 ministries and agencies have placed orders for furniture in line with the president’s directive.
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“We have the motivation, commitment, technical know-how and the resources to execute the mandate given to us by the President,” Byabashaija said during the commissioning of the wood drying facility at Luzira prisons recently.
Byabashaija noted that the facility would save money and time spent in drying wood without compromising the quality of their product noting that the kiln uses both firewood and hot water that takes about three to one month to have the timber dried completely once it’s dry, then it switches off automatically.
“It shows you the level of moisture content and you are good to go. It’s just automatic but it needs monitoring because you have to keep adding timber to ensure the temperature does not exceed the standard which is about 80%,” according to Byabashaija.
We have manpower and expect to use our uniformed staff, the contractor is giving them extra skills and by the time we complete the training, they will be capable of handling the machine, the Prison’s Chief said.
“We have realized that our clients find it strenuous to access prisons due to the security details but once we put a workshop outside the normal prison setting, then they will be able to access it and because of that, then the work will go on,” says Byabashaija.
We want prisoners to get training within the workshops set in prisons, after they have gotten training then we shall refer them to work in the outside workshop under supervision but even when we don’t have them, then we can make use of the skilled personnel within the public.
Under the Prisons Act, semi-skilled inmates earn Shs800 per day while the skilled are paid Shs1,300 each day.
“Prisoners who engage in such programs are paid in line with the laws. And those working will be equipped with skills to enable them execute their work to the required standard hence enable them create employment upon discharge,” according to Byabashaija
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Nakawa member of Parliament Ronald Balimwezo commended the prison’s department for the facility saying that they have maximumly utilized money in an appropriate way because there is value for money.
“This is a record project that I have known in Uganda therefore, request other institutions to emulate Uganda Prison Services, if it was another institution, this facility would have costed over 2 bn but prisons have appropriately used the money allocated,” Balimwezo praised.
Balimwezo noted that this is an important facility for the growth of the economy in that it will help inmates to acquire more skills and also earn while in detention.
“I pray that Parliament considers increasing the prison’s budget because there is value for money. They have changed the negative energy into productive energy that will enable prisoners to make quality furniture for Ugandans under the BUBU program, “Balimwezo appealed.