The Ministry of Justice has dismissed a media report that the water supply at Westgate Correctional Facility was only partially restored after recent challenges.

A spokesman said: “The Department of Corrections can report that the water supply was restored on Sunday with some toilets not flushing due to pressure levels.

“However, conditions at the facility have been continuously monitored and were checked prior to this report and the department can confirm that water is currently running, toilets are operational and showers are functioning.

“All residential units have been fully operational as of Monday.”

The spokesman, however, confirmed that inmates assigned to work in the facility’s kitchen declined to work yesterday.

He added: “The main disruption today involved meal service. Meals were provided by an external caterer, with this arrangement expected to continue throughout the week.

“The ministry will continue to monitor conditions at Westgate and provide accurate information where clarification is required.”

It was previously reported that the prison lost running water last week and, while an initial repair restored service on Friday, a further failure caused another interruption over the weekend.

A government spokesman said restoration work was completed on Sunday, apologising for the disruption.

Kim Wilkerson, the Minister of Justice, told the Senate on Monday that the issue was “under control”.

She added: “They always had drinking water, but the challenge was around flushing. What this would have meant was that they would have to require an officer come to them to be let out, to go to the facilities where water was working.

“I want it to be clear that there was only a short time when the whole facility was down, so these were staged repairs and that, at a point, some of them didn't work and there was further work to retrofit.”