ENG-1983 — Page 244

PUBLIC ORDER

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temporarily as a closed centre, reverted to its original function as a prison in October, thereby relieving overcrowding in other penal institutions.

Several significant legislative amendments concerning the work of the Correctional Services Department were enacted during the year. The commissioner is now empowered to grant leave of absence to any prisoner for a period not exceeding 24 hours, subject to such conditions and restrictions regarding custody and escort as he considers necessary. The number of visits a prisoner may receive was increased from one to two a month. With the amendment of the Drug Addiction Treatment Centres Ordinance, a supervisee who fails to comply with any requirement specified in a supervision order made against him commits an offence and may be liable to a fine of $5,000 and to imprisonment for 12 months. Provision was made under the amended Criminal Procedure Ordinance for time spent in custody prior to being sentenced to a term of imprisonment to be taken into account in computing the length of time a prisoner has to serve. The ordinance was also amended to allow a sentence passed by the court to be partly cumulative with any other sentence that an offender is required to serve.

Adult Male Offenders

The department operates 10 prisons and a psychiatric centre for male adults with accommodation for 6 042. The number of adult male inmates increased during the year to a daily average of 5 331, 9.8 per cent above the 1982 average.

Lai Chi Kok Reception Centre is one of the few multi-storey prisons in the world. It accommodates adult males including remands, appellants, civil debtors, persons detained under the Immigration Ordinance, and newly-convicted prisoners pending classification and allocation to other institutions.

The largest maximum security institution, at Stanley, has accommodation for 1 605 and houses all prisoners under sentence of death and those serving life and other long-term sentences. Shek Pik Prison, another maximum security prison under construction on Lantau Island, will come into operation in early 1984.

Ma Po Ping Prison on Lantau Island and Victoria Prison in Central District are medium security prisons for adult male prisoners. Victoria Prison also houses illegal immigrants.

There are six minimum security prisons: Ma Hang Prison, Pik Uk Prison, Tai Lam Correctional Institution, Tong Fuk Centre, Chi Ma Wan Prison and Tung Tau Correc- tional Institution. A section at Tai Lam houses civil debtors. Prisoners at Pik Uk are mainly employed in the institution's laundry, while the others are employed on such outside projects as afforestation, road building and local community development.

Geriatric prisoners, certified as clinically old and generally aged over 60, are housed at Ma Hang and Ma Po Ping and employed on light tasks such as envelope-making, light gardening, basket-weaving and tailoring.

Siu Lam Psychiatric Centre, a maximum security prison with accommodation for 136, provides psychiatric treatment for the criminally insane and for dangerous and violent male prisoners. Psychiatrists employed there also provide psychiatric assessments for the courts.

Young Male Offenders

Prisons, training centres and a detention centre, all running comprehensive and different programmes, operate for young male offenders. The daily average number of young people in custody was 1 251 in 1983, compared with 1 197 in 1982. In addition, drug addiction treatment is provided at Hei Ling Chau Addiction Treatment Centre. The opening of Lai Sun Correctional Institution during the year saw the start of a full programme specifically