Metcalfe Street juvenile centre must meet deadline - Cabinet

The Cabinet has mandated state agencies to have the planned juvenile remand centre at Metcalfe Street in Denham Town, Kingston, up and running by tomorrow.

Yesterday when a Gleaner team visited the facility, which is to house children on remand, workmen were seen doing final external touches.

However, entry to the facility was denied to the Gleaner team and it was unclear if the interior was ready.

But minister with responsibility for information, Daryl Vaz, told the weekly post-Cabinet media briefing that the state agencies have been instructed to pull out all the stops to ensure the facility is ready.

"Cabinet indicated that the establishment of a dedicated juvenile remand centre was of high priority for the Government of Jamaica in order to properly house boys in police lock-ups and adult facilities across the island and meet the requirements of the international guidelines and domestic law," Vaz said.

He said the necessary provisions would be made in the 2011-2012 Budget to provide the financing to staff and operate the facility.

It was long proposed that all children on remand will be housed at the specially created juvenile remand centre, which was a former adult remand centre.

Shifted deadlines

Initially the Government had said the facility would be operational before Christmas 2010 but that was shifted to February 2011 before the new April 1 deadline.

With a budget of $148.9 million, the facility was expected to be able to house 208 boys and girls with a farm, a covered multi-purpose court, classrooms, a library and a computer room.

The dormitories are expected to be more spacious than those in the lock-ups which now house children while there should be adequate parking and meeting space for visitors, including lawyers and family members.

The centre, which is being upgraded and retrofitted by the Jamaica Defence Force, should have standby generators, independent water systems, special sanitary facilities, fire escapes for the four-storey buildings and a medical centre.