MONTPELIER, St James

The Montpelier Juvenile and Remand Correctional Centre will be opened by November, according to Major Richard Reeves, the Commissioner of the Department of Correctional Services.

“We expect to complete it by October or November of this year subject to approval for funding,” he told reporters at last week’s opening ceremony of Challengers Camp 2007 – a behaviour modification programme for juvenile delinquents at the proposed site for the centre.

Reeves said the $30-million juvenile facility – the first of its kind to be established in western Jamaica – will house 250 males and bring to two, the number of juvenile remand centres in the island. “We have had tremendous support from the community and tremendous support from the magistrates,” he noted. “Because they recognise the urgent need for such a facility.”

He said the centre – originally built to house Haitian refugees – would certainly alleviate the problem of overcrowding at the other juvenile centres across the island, which presently house 360 juveniles between the ages 12-17.

When completed he said the new facility – which will have the full slate of staff and services to offer sufficient rehabilitation services to its wards – will also pave the way for changes in other facilities across the island to facilitate better service delivery to juvenile offenders. “This will mean improved service delivery,” boasted Reeves.

Among the changes, he said, would be the Armadale Juvenile Correctional Centre, which is being converted into a facility for males.

Additionally, he said, the correctional services was being proactive about the rehabilitation of offenders and were actively seeking to establish more facilities across the island – including the establishment of co-located court facilities.

“This would reduce the requirement of transporting prisoners from the various lockups to and from court facilities and enable the police to better utilise their resources,” he told the Observer West.

He lauded the many persons involved in the challengers camp which begun in Clarendon in 2003 and spread to other parishes, culminating in the first national camp. The camp, which was scheduled to host 105 male and female juvenile delinquents from across the island between August 14-22, was cut short due to the onslaught of Hurricane Dean.

The programme, which costs $850,000, is being funded mainly through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the CHASE Fund. “Its an opportunity to get them out of their most challenging environment and get them into a more focused and relaxing environment,” said Reeves.