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Prisoners paying over the odds for groceries

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Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi

The prison tuck shop lacks a procurement procedure and is instead stocked with items bought from small stores located around the Corradino area. The Home Affairs Ministry confirmed this following a costing exercise by The Times, which found that tuck shop items cost up to 88 per cent more than at supermarkets. A bottle of Dove shower cream sells for €2.28 in two major supermarkets but €3.54 in prison. A pack of 200 cotton buds costs inmates €1.21 while their relatives on the outside can buy them for as little as 90c. Toothpaste is similarly overpriced, as is floor detergent, shaving blades and mayonnaise. Prisoners can console themselves by drinking Coca Cola or using Herbal Essences shampoo which, according to the tuck shop price list obtained by The Times, are respectively 21c and 51c cheaper when bought behind bars. Stocking the tuck shop as though it were a family kitchen made sense, the ministry spokesman said, because the shop catered for a “relatively small” community of 600 inmates “who can also obtain such items from their relatives”. However, the ministry did not explain why the prison authorities do not purchase items from supermarkets directly, passing savings on to...

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