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enhanced in the tropics by climatic conditions, I do not consider that it would be advisable to provide the increase of accommodation required by adding to the Welikada Gaol, and constituting it the great central prison for the Colony.
5. In arriving at this decision I have given full weight to the advantages in point of economical and efficient administration which such a central prison would undoubtedly confer, and I have not overlooked the fact that in this particular instance the central position of Welikada offers great facilities for the establishment of a prison of this nature; but the considerations to which I have adverted in the last paragraph appear to me completely to outweigh whatever can be urged in favour of so large an increase as that of 665 cells to the Welikada Gaol.
6. Under these circumstances I would urge upon your Government the necessity of giving immediate consideration to the following measures, which I consider best adapted to meet the want of permanent prison accommodation which will make itself felt on the completion of the breakwater works :—
1. The reconstruction of the local prisons, so as to accommodate 400 prisoners on the separate system.
2. The provision at Kandy of cells for 500, either by the conversion of the existing barracks or by the erection of a new prison.
3. The erection of 100 additional cells at Galle; and,
4. The conversion of the existing associated accommodation for sixty-five prisoners at Welikada into cells for the same number.
7. Passing now to the question of the provision of temporary accommodation for the 600 prisoners at the breakwater works. I observe that it is proposed to utilize for this purpose a commissariat store near the breakwater, and the buildings known as the Slave Islands Barracks, and to allow the prisoners to occupy these buildings in complete association, and with an allowance of cubical space which in the great majority of cases scarcely exceeds 500 feet per prisoner. I cannot recognize an occupation extending over a period of five, or possibly more, years, as a temporary occupation, in the sense which alone would warrant the sanction on my part of these arrangements which, while they prove the strongest possible wish on the part of their designers to turn to the best account the means at their disposal, render it only too manifest that these means are insufficient, and a moderate additional expenditure must be incurred in order to avoid the serious risks involved in so marked a departure from the leading principles of prison
construction and administration.
8. I have caused to be embodied in the inclosed Memorandum a detailed description of the additions and alterations which I consider should be at once proceeded with, and the execution of which I am compelled to regard as an indispensable condition to my approval of the appropriation of these buildings to prison purposes, You will observe that I propose to sanction the association of prisoners in the commissariat store, subject to certain alterations in detail. I do this with considerable hesitation, and solely because I am given to understand that it would be impossible either to convert the building into cells, or to find other accommodation for the occupants, or a site sufficiently near the works for the erection of temporary buildings; though, from the plans, the building itself 'seems less well adapted than I could desire for occupation under the physical conditions of Ceylon. I am assured that it occupies an unusually healthy and exposed site. I will, therefore, only impress upon you the necessity of the most careful sanitary supervision, and of taking immediate steps to vacate the building should unfavourable health con- ditions manifest themselves among the occupants. I attach to the Memorandum a tracing, showing the manner in which it seems possible to convert some, at least, of the wards on Slave Island into separate cells, and that I consider it desirable to provide for the loss of accommodation which will result from this conversion by the erection of temporary cell accommodation for 80 prisoners, and of a small detached hospital.
9. These measures need not, I apprehend, involve any serious increase of expenditure: the proposed alterations are of a nature which can be readily executed by convict labour, and the additional buildings required can doubtless be constructed in such a manner as to insure durability for five years, without involving the employment of highly-skilled labour or costly materials.
I have, &c.
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Inclosure in No. 45.
Memorandum on the proposed Accommodation for Convicts at the Colombo Breakwater Works.
The Commissariat Store. This building would appear, from the plans, to be but ill adapted for occupation as a prison: the floor is on the ground level, and, in parts, below that level; the walls are only partly protected by verandahs; the roof is single, and, from the lowness of the openings, encloses an enormous amount of dead space; the plan shows too great a width for effective cross ventilation, numerous projecting buttresses impeding the external circulation, a deficiency of door and window openings, and an arrangement of latrines and cells which cannot be considered satisfactory. Under ordinary circum- stances these objections, which are only a few of the more patent and obvious which result from an examination of the plans, would be sufficient to condemn the proposed appropriation of the building; but it is understood that the site is unusually exposed to both monsoons, that the plans do not show all the details of the building, and that very great difficulty would be experienced in obtaining either other accommodation or a site for the erection of a temporary prison which, were it practicable, would be far the most satisfactory course to pursue. Under these circumstances, the use of the building as a prison may perhaps be justifiable; but this sanction must also, in this particular instance, involve the approval of the association of prisoners in large wards. building would not admit of conversion into cells, except at such a cost as would scarcely be justified by an occupation of only five years; and, as the cubic allowance per prisoner, on the basis of 140 prisoners to the building shown on the plan, is fairly large, and the facilities for supervision are stated to be unusually great, this sanction of a principle which all the experience of modern prison administration has proved to be faulty, may not perhaps in this case be productive of evil. But the following alterations in detail appear to be absolutely necessary from a sanitary point of view:
The
1. The openings in the longitudinal party wall should be increased in number and size as much as possible.
2. There appear to be two cells provided, probably for the isolation of insubordinate prisoners they seem to have no direct communication either with the outside air or with the light. This arrangement would appear to admit of reconsideration.
3. The latrines open directly into the ward under the most perfect systern of con. servancy such an arrangement would be productive of the worst results from a sanitary point of view. The latrines should be contained in a small building connected with the ward by a covered passage open at the sides, so as to admit of complete isolation by cross ventilation.
Lainnes
w.rd
4. Abundant openings should be provided in the crown of the arched roof to serve as outlets for foul air, which would be still more effective if they were carried up by means of wooden trunks at least three feet above the roof.
The Slave Island Barracks.-As regards these barracks, though defective in many points of detail, they may probably be occupied without much risk; but there seems to be no sufficient reason why the system of association should be sanctioned in this case. The annexed tracing shows in plan and section how wards B and C can be converted into cells, and huts C and D might be similarly treated. The result would be to diminish the accommodation and to raise the standard of cubic space, which, by the proposed appropriation, is actually less than that sanctioned for the best constructed and ventilated barracks in temperate climates. The following statement shows the extent to which the accommodation would be affected by the reappropriation :-
*-
(Signed)
CARNARVON.
(128)
3 G
TLIT
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference
C.O. 8
885
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE. LONDON
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