The State Of Jamaica’s Prisons

There are seven adult prisons in Jamaica, and one of them still has an overcrowding issue. That’s the Tower Street Adult Correctional Facility, the Ministry of National Security says it is working to address the issue.

“You have one facility which is experiencing bad overcrowding which is Tower Street. That one has a lot of work to be done and there has to be a lot of capacity put in the system for that one,” says Matthew Samuda, Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of National Security.

In 2019, the Tower Street Adult Correctional Centre almost doubled its capacity. The 2020/2021 Estimate of Expenditure shows that $82 million had been allocated for construction and improvement.

“We are actively looking at how we increase capacity at other facilities to readily improve the overcrowding problem in that one. We do have a programme that will take three to four years to deal with that issue even before we get into the construction of a new prison,” Samuda adds.

Meanwhile, Samuda while not disclosing details says the Department of Correctional Services is embracing technology in managing security in prisons.

“We will be bringing DCS into the 21st century with investment in technology which lists and classifies inmates appropriately and provides the adequate amount of surveillance and searching capacity,” he explains.