ENG-1957 — Page 280

238

HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT

suited to its functions as a Classification Centre and prison for male prisoners on remand and awaiting trial. 8,207 prisoners were received, the daily average population being 479 (530 in 1956).

Chi Ma Wan Prison is near the village of Shap Long on the south-east corner of Lantao Island and 13 miles from the centre of Victoria. It is a minimum security establishment with accommodation for up to 650 short-term prisoners. The main occupation is the afforestation of the area surrounding the prison. So far, with the advice of the Forestry Officer, 250 acres have been planted and a further 250 acres are scheduled for development in the next planting season. 4,134 prisoners were received, the daily average population being

501.

Lai Chi Kok Prison for women is on the mainland, on what were once the outskirts of Kowloon; the prison has gradually been hemmed in by growing industrial and resettle- ment areas. The women sleep in dormitories with the excep- tion of long-term first offenders who have pleasant rooms which were formerly cells but are now never locked. The Matron and all her staff are locally recruited. 1,470 women were received, the daily average number of occupants being 119 (92 in 1956).

Training Centres. Stanley Training Centre and Tung Tau Wan Training Centre both take boys between the ages of 14 and 21 sentenced to detention in a Training Centre. The provisions of the Training Centres Ordinance are based on the Borstal section of the Criminal Justice Act, 1948. The Centres can together take 200 boys, all of whom would probably have gone to prison before the inception of the scheme. Of 237 boys released over a period of five years only 35 have been reconvicted. 175 boys were accepted during the year, the daily average population being: Stanley Train- ing Centre, 126; Tung Tau Wan Training Centre, 86.

The staff of the Prisons Department consists of 11 gazetted