XN000022-1997-04-04 — Page 8

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The spokesman stressed that "the future of the VMs does not lie in the camps. It lies in Vietnam, where we hope they will return as soon as possible. We will continue to do all in our power to convince them to do so.

"It remains the firm objective of the Hong Kong Government to repatriate the VMs as soon as possible and to close the camps for good," he said.

The spokesman said that the Government acknowledged the overcrowding problem in the territory's correctional institutions and that it had been taking steps to ease overcrowding through a number of redevelopment projects.

"We are also identifying sites for new prisons. However, building new prisons takes time," he said.

The Government has been carrying out redevelopment projects to increase penal capacities. These include:

A VM detention centre at Chi Ma Wan has been recently converted into a drug addiction treatment centre;

Works are under way to convert the ex-military camp in Lo Wu into a minimum-security prison, ready by mid-1997;

An annex to the Tung Tau Correctional Institution is under construction and is expected to be completed in late 1997;

A new medium-security prison in Stanley is under construction and is scheduled for completion in 1998; and

The Government is working on a proposal to expand the Tai Lam Correctional Institution.

"Altogether, these projects will generate about 1,400 additional penal places. In the long run, however, we need to build new prisons to solve the problem of overcrowding. We are conducting a territory-wide search to identify suitable sites for such prisons," the spokesman said.

End