Months after revealing that the cost to construct a new prison facility at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services (BDOCS) had doubled, Minister of National Security Wayne Munroe said yesterday the Ministry of Finance is "not satisfied" with the cost of the project and is currently awaiting a more "acceptable" figure.
In March 2022, Munroe said the new facility will cost around $35 million to $40 million. However, in May of this year, Munroe revealed that the cost had increased to $90 million.
He told reporters yesterday, "There was an approval for the Ministry of National Security, the PPP (public private partnership) investor, and the Ministry of Finance to finalize the details. The Ministry of National Security and BDOCS would be concerned with the scope, [Ministry of] Finance would be concerned with the dollars and cents.
"[Ministry of] Finance has said that it's not satisfied with the dollars and cents and sent the parties back to come up with something that they may find acceptable.
"I'm due to have a presentation on that, whether that relates to issues around the scope; for instance, asking for VAT or customs duties exemption, that would be matters that would be addressed.
"But at the end of any procurement, the Ministry of Finance has to be satisfied before it will provide funds. And so, that is my understanding of what has happened. It is not unusual."
After Munroe previously revealed that the cost had doubled, Opposition Leader Michael Pintard questioned the "staggering" increase, noting that the government should be "very transparent with all of that information just so that the public can be reasonably assured that they have done all of the things that they are required to do by law".
However, Munroe noted that this increase was set to cover not only the new prison facility, but also the virtual court.
"The government isn't paying $90 million for this to be built. The government on the current proposition is paying $9 million and then they (Walker's Industries) will have to build this to completion with us not paying one penny more," Munroe previously stated.
"They have to hand it over to us, turnkey, ready to go, and then we will pay them the balance of the money over 10 years for the prison and eight years for the [virtual] court.
"The virtual court that is currently undersized is to be demolished and reconstructed to accommodate the Court of Appeal, Supreme Court and Magistrate's Court."
While he hoped that work would have started on the facility by January 15 of this year, Munroe said his ministry is "still pushing" for work to begin soon.
"We're still pushing for it because it's being designed to meet a number of urgent priorities," he said yesterday.
"One, [with] the Mental Health Act being brought into force, there are components that are designed directly for that. The continual reports about the conditions of the existing prison, which is what we have, drives our staff to improve it. And the need to move from a prison to a correctional facility where we turn out people better than they were when they went in, drives our staff to do this."
Local and international human rights agencies have long criticized conditions at the prison.
The United States Department of State, in its 2021 report, noted the facility's "harsh" conditions.
The American Correctional Association, in its 2022 assessment, also advised against the facility's outdated design.
Thus, according to Munroe, "... an administrative block, parole block, mental health housing unit, mental health clinic and chapel were added to permit certification as a correctional institution," adding that the new facility "will house 820 inmates and will include a special unit for mentally ill patients".
Acting Commissioner of Corrections Doan Cleare previously stated that the new prison will be a "contained air conditioned" facility with eight "medium security dorms [which] will be now retrofitted into eight BTVI dorms" to offer training for inmates in carpentry and plumbing.
Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian
