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The football pitch adjacent to Stanley Prison is to be reprovisioned to make way for the construction of a new medium security prison. This work and site formation and preparatory works for the construction of departmental quarters and barracks accommodation are scheduled to be finished in early 1997.
Phase Two, estimated to cost $946.1 million, of the project, includes the construction of a self-contained unit for 256 category A prisoners, which is expected to be completed in early 1999, as will the new medium security prison for 424 prisoners.
Linking blocks for six existing cell blocks will also be built to upgrade security and improve operational efficiency. This work, scheduled to be finished in early 2000, will provide communal facilities including dining/day rooms with associated staff duty rooms, showers and stores.
Construction work on new staff quarters is scheduled to be completed in early 1999 and will provide accommodation for over 700 junior personnel and officers and their families.
The sewers of existing buildings at Stanley Prison and the new buildings under the project will be connected to the Stanley main sewers and treatment plant.
Meanwhile, the conversion of the Chi Ma Wan (Lower) Detention Centre into a drug addiction treatment centre (DATC) for women, at an estimated cost of nearly $15 million, will provide much-needed relief to the severe over-crowded situation in women penal institutions.
The Tai Lam Centre for Women which currently holds 594 prisoners is 126 per cent above its certified accommodation, while the Chi Ma Wan Correctional Institution with 665 inmates is 83 per cent above its certified accommodation and Tai Tam Gap Correctional Institution with 251 prisoners is 57 per cent above its occupancy rate.
Work on the project at Chi Ma Wan Lower started at the beginning of this year and is scheduled to be completed at the end of this year. It is expected to become operational in early 1997 and will provide accommodation for 250 inmates.
Various facilities in the former detention centre have been renovated and upgraded to provide a vocational training/education complex, three workshops, improved kitchen facilities, a sick bay and clinic, shower rooms and changing space.
"Among the female prison population, about 14 per cent are drug addicts and the number of such prisoners has been on the increase in recent years.