The cost to construct a new prison has been slashed by approximately $40 million after officials from the Ministry of Finance said the previous $90 million price tag was too high, according to Acting Commissioner of Corrections Doan Cleare.
"We have cut off at least about $30 to $40 million of the cost," Cleare told reporters yesterday as he explained
officials have scaled back the project, including eliminating plans to build a virtual court.
"We have cut down on the size of some things, but we have not eliminated anything. So, for example, we may have had an administrative complex of about 17 different office spaces; it is now down to 10.
"You cannot cut [anything] because we seek certification. And we can't be certified by cutting things out. So that's the dilemma that we were facing. You can't be certified and then cut things out that are needed, like a mental health hospital."
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.
However, the Ministry of Finance was reportedly not satisfied with the cost of the project and sent the parties back to come up with something else.
"The $42 million that was initially pegged didn't have a medical facility, it didn't have a mental hospital, it didn't have a central intake for booking, it didn't have classrooms, but it was still $42 million," Cleare said.
"And that's punitive. We have sought the advice of the American Correctional Association. They are the ones who designed this new prison for us.
"Based on what they were saying, this should cost $200 million based on their designs. We did some numbers, some major numbers, and we were able to get it down to the $90 million and then the prime minister said I must cut it again, so we did that. So, we are in the ballpark of about $50 to $60 million."
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".
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The American Correctional Association, in its 2022 assessment, also advised against the facility's outdated design.
Cleare previously said 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.
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