It is said that the number of detainees being held at the facilities within the area have become a cause for much concern as the the amount which can be housed has been long surpassed.

Area Three comprises St Eliza-beth, Manchester and Clarendon, with the lock-ups being in Black River, Mandeville and May Pen, respectively.

One source from the Mandeville police said cells from that division which are to house about 30 persons have in recent weeks been accommodating two times that amount and more.

"All 78 dem have in one cell, and cells like those suppose to accommodate like 30 people," the source claimed.

Another source also pointed to a recent incident in which five prisoners escaped from the Mandeville lock-up. Two of the five have since been recaptured.

"When the cells are too full, persons can escape and it can go unnoticed for a while because of the amount of persons in there," that source said.

When contacted last week, Assistant Commissioner, Kingsley Robinson, in charge of the Area Three said he was aware of the matter. While not giving numbers he pointed to the situation at the May Pen lock-up which he says is much more overcrowded when compared to the facilities in Manchester.

In an effort to get help from the police hierachy, ACP Robinson said a letter has been sent to the Commissioner of Police Owen Ellington.

I have sent a letter to the commissioner seeking intervention hoping we can come up with some sort of plan as we move forward ... The situation with the accommodating of prisoners needs to be discussed," ACP Robinson said.

Commissioner Ellington could not be reached for comment.