by JULIE WILSON

THE TRANSITION TEAM is in and very soon the 1 250 inmates now housed at Harrison Point, St Lucy, will be locked away at an ultra-modern prison in Dodds, St Philip.

Attorney-General Dale Marshall, along with Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Lucene Wharton-Isaac, Acting Superintendent of Prisons Lieutenant-Colonel John Nurse, and other officials were taken on tour of the sprawling $280 million state-of the-art prison by construction manager Ross Densky of Veco yesterday.

The team toured the four completed buildings – the female prison, solitary confinement, maximum security and a visitor reception area.

Densky said the prison was 89 per cent completed, with a further five buildings to be handed over in early July, adding that the jail would consist of 15 buildings.

Among its key features, said Marshall, were the US$20 million (BDS $40 million) computerised security monitoring system, and a US$10 million (BDS$20 million) sewage treatment plant.

It also has a newly-constructed gallows, which Marshall said was in keeping with the fact that the death penalty was still on the statute books.

He said he hoped the prison would last a long time.

"This is not a fly-by-night, run-of-the-mill building. This is a facility that has to last Barbados hopefully for as long as Glendairy lasted Barbados and Barbadians. It is an investment that the Government feels will last us for a long time.

"It is a modern prison facility that will pass most, if not all, of the exacting standards of the international agencies that rate and are watchdogs in terms of prison conditions."

When initial negotiations began, United States-based construction firm Veco had submitted a plan for an American-styled prison eight stories high.

That plan was rejected, Marshall said, and with the input from Nurse and other officials within the Ministry of Home Affairs, they came up with a design that he said was best suited for Barbados' architectural landscape.

When the facility is up and running, inmates will enjoy outdoor activities on an expansive football field. There will also be a resumption of the farm programme, art programme, tailor shop, and mechanic shop, among others.