The city’s new prison in Ka Ho, in Coloane, will finally start operations in 2024, after more than a decade’s construction.
Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak announced the news about the new prison during a one-day Q&A session in the legislature’s hemicycle on Friday about his portfolio’s policy guidelines for next year.
The new prison comprising four phases started in August 2010 and was initially scheduled to be completed at the end of 2014, but the project has been hit by repeated delays.
The first phase of the new prison was completed in 2016, while the second phase was completed in 2019.
According to the Public Works Bureau, the government commissioned a building contractor in June 2019 to carry out the new prison’s third phase, which was then initially scheduled to be completed in May 2021. However, the third phase is now slated to be completed in February next year, after it has been affected by delays.
Wong told lawmakers late last year that the new prison’s third phase was expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2022.
During Friday’s Q&A session, Wong noted that the first and second phases of the new prison have been completed.
Wong said that the new prison’s third phase, which will include an administration building, a security check building and a training building, was still being carried out, adding that the government now expects the third phase to be completed in February or March next year.
Wong pointed out that the government has commenced the new prison’s fourth phase, which is the setting-up of the prison’s IT security system, adding that the government now aims for the fourth phase to be completed in 18 months.
Consequently, Wong said, the government now expects the prison to be able to relocate to Ka Ho in 2024.
The Correctional Services Bureau has set up a working group that will prepare the new prison’s relocation and trial operation.
Wong also said that the government will continue to “intensively” recruit prison guards from the local job market with the aim of gradually replacing the foreign prison guards with local residents. According to Wong, the prison currently has 649 prison guards, comprising 507 locals and 142 foreign nationals.
Wong noted that since he took office as the secretary for security in December 2014, the government has no longer recruited foreign prison guards. Wong said that the government’s future direction is to “phase out” foreign prison guards and recruit local residents to fill the vacancies, but he admitted that it has been difficult to hire local prison guards.
The prison in Coloane held 1,421 inmates in August this year, a 7.3 per cent year-on-year drop from 1,533 in August 2021.
