THE Government has spent close to $1 billion on improvements to facilities and other capital works within the correctional system since 2016-17, according to minister without portfolio in the Ministry of National Security, Senator Matthew Samuda.

In a statement on the treatment of juveniles at Rio Cobre Juvenile Correctional Centre in St Catherine, based on a recent Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) special investigations report, Samuda noted that $848 million had been spent on capital projects since 2016-17, compared to the $637 million spent in the previous four years.

He said that a cut of over $300 million from the 2020-21 capital budget, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, was a “hard pill to swallow”, though it was expected and understood as the allocation represented well-needed investment to continue to improve conditions in all of the facilities.

“The state of the infrastructure in the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) is well known to be abominable,” Samuda noted.

He said that the state of affairs had been exacerbated by the budgetary cuts because of the impact of COVID-19.

“Though, as at the end of 2019, we had spent considerably more than the previous Administration on improving the infrastructure and providing greater access to sanitation, it simply was not enough,” he told the Senate.

He argued that, according to the INDECOM report, the Rio Cobre institution, which has only about 40 occupants in a facility built for 140 people, is in a relatively good condition and overall comments were favourable in terms of the cleanliness, food, recreation and ablutions.

However, the report also noted that the physical infrastructure, in some areas, was very poor, specifically the bathrooms in the dormitories which were observed to be in very poor condition, with the toilets missing lids and heavily stained.

The commission also reported an absence of doors on the toilet stalls as being unsatisfactory, and face basins and leaking showers which required immediate repairs.

Samuda said that, on the face of it, from his own observations on a tour of the facility on Thursday, they were fair criticisms and require immediate attention. However, he said that the process necessary to have the matters addressed is already underway and has a targeted completion date of mid-April, as $171 million is being spent on the upgrade.

He agreed that the time has come to approach the development and maintenance of these facilities in a structured and systematic manner, similar to the approach taken in upgrading police stations.

He stated that the work must be undertaken to bring the DCS into the 21st century, along with a full overhaul of the Corrections Act and an updated training programme.

He said the approach that it will take includes a first phase looking at risk assessment of all facilities by the Jamaica Fire Brigade to determine risk levels for fires and other disasters in order to ensure remedial work is prioritised in line with risk and engineering assessments of all facilities, to properly determine the conditions and the costs for renovations and maintenance of these correctional centres.

The second would include the continued engagement of Development Bank of Jamaica to develop the financial modality for funding of a new adult correctional facility; a process of getting ‘shovel ready’ for the necessary infrastructure developments such as a forensic ward; a prison infirmary; suicide watch rooms in all facilities; a massive sanitation upgrade of all facilities; digital courtroom build outs; a “super-max” facility for some of the country’s worst gang leaders and violence producers; and a joint project with an nongovernmental organisation (NGO), which he plans to name in “short order”, to relocate all bedridden individuals.

In late January, DCS received technological support from United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) valued at just over $1.9 million, to be distributed across the island’s four juvenile correctional centres.

The donation came in response to an application from the Ministry of National Security to partner with the UN body to mitigate against the negative psychological and psychosocial impact of COVID-19 on the children within correctional facilities.

Senator Samuda, in addressing the official handover of the items, stated that the donation was received “at the right time” as the ministry, through the DCS, is building out its institutional capacity for virtual engagement, in light of the pandemic.