Jamaica Government Assures Female Juveniles Will Be Removed From Main Correctional Centre

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – The Jamaica government has given the assurance that it will have all female juveniles removed from the Fort Augusta Correctional Centre by year end.

National Security Minister, Peter Bunting, said that coming out of discussions with the Commissioner of Corrections, the relocation could be as early as September.

He said the removal is the first phase of the transfer of inmates from Fort Augusta to two distinct facilities, which will be built at South Camp Correctional Centre in Kingston.

He said that the adult females would be relocated sometime next year, as the December timeline, which was originally set, had been pushed back.

“We have a little bit more time…so rather than having to focus on the whole South Camp (Correctional) facility – two distinct sections – we can now focus only on the juvenile section (and) accelerating that,” Bunting said, without indicating how many juveniles are in custody.

In January, Bunting announced that the South Camp centre will be renovated to accommodate all inmates currently at Fort Augusta and that there would also be a total separation of the juveniles from the adults.

“That compound will be divided into two discrete, totally separate, though adjacent, facilities. They will be divided by a double fence (and a partition), so there won’t even be visual connection between the two,” he stated.

He said the government was also exploring the possibility of a public/private partnership for the construction of a modern adult correctional facility and that interest had come from at least two reputable companies to enter into the venture which is being managed by the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ)