Juvenile Remand Centre could be ready by Feb

Acting Commissioner of Corrections, Lieutenant Colonel Shawn Prendergast, says construction of the Metcalfe Street Juvenile Remand Facility for boys, should be completed as early as February.

Reporting to a meeting of Parliament’s Public Administration and Appropriations Committee (PAAC) on Wednesday (January 19) at Gordon House, Lt. Col. Prendergast said, on completion, the facility can house more than 200 inmates.

"So that will be able to take care of all the boys that we currently have on remand, which are currently being housed at the St. Andrew Juvenile remand centre. The ultimate plan is that we will also take some of the boys, which is about 140, that are in police lock ups and put them in the remand facility," he said.

Noting that the Corrections Services has received Cabinet’s approval for the recruitment of some 300 new staff, Lt. Col. Prendergast said the agency was now in the final stages of selecting them. He said the first batch would be made up of some 150 persons.

“The projections that we have are that the recruit intake won’t complete their training until late July of this year. So we expect that the first batch will be available later on this year,” he stated.

He said part of the plan is to move staff from the Stony Hill centre to the new facility, noting that, based on current trends, the number of male juveniles at the institution is likely to increase.

CONTACT: ATHALIAH REYNOLDS