Prison condition has improved –– Heinz • But congressman says CNMI is working to get out of consent decree

The chair of the Prison Task Force Rep. Heinz S. Hofschneider expressed confidence yesterday that U.S. justice officials who are set to visit the CNMI within the next few months will find as acceptable the improvement made on existing jail facilities on the island.

He said, however, that there are lot more things to be done to comply with the terms of a consent decree reached last year with the Department of Justice requiring the island government to correct deplorable conditions in its prison.

Officials from the department are expected to check the renovation made so far by the CNMI on such facilities whether these have addressed the concerns raised by the federal government.

“I am confident that what we have done is about ten to twenty times better than what we have as far as the consent decree [is concerned],” he told reporters in an interview.

“However, again no matter what we do with the existing facility, it will not meet any sort of standard or any federal standard. That’s why we are taking the approach of the Commonwealth getting itself out of the consent decree,” added Mr. Hofschneider.

The task force, which Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio created in 1998, has been mapping out the plan to build a new jail facility to replace the existing prison in Susupe which has undergone major facelift to meet the short-term requirements of the decree.

According to Mr. Hofschneider, this is the only way to fully comply with the terms of the agreement as constructing a new prison will allow the government to put in place state-of-the-art facilities safe for the inmates.

Under the deal, the CNMI will adhere to fire and safety codes, provide livable conditions for inmates, promote sanitary measures in food handling as well as secure medical screening and health standards for prisoners and improve security within the facility.

The long-term plan to build the new prison is now on its design phase and the task force is expected to approve an architectural and engineering design blueprint by June. By that time, Mr. Hofschneider said, they will be able to determine the costs entailed in the construction of the new prison.

“The new facility will be designed and constructed in accordance with the standards for prisons,” he added.

The government has put initial construction costs at around $17 million, which will include the building of the adult prison, crime lab, immigration detention facility and juvenile facility.

Since last year, several renovations have also been carried out, such as those on the Susupe detention that was destroyed during a jail stand-off staged by disgruntled inmates in March 1999.

“However, there must be understanding that the short-term remedies will not get us out of consent decree, simply because the facilities today in Susupe are substandard overall,” Mr. Hofschneider pointed out.

The decree stipulates that if the Commonwealth tends to these short-term mitigation, then the long-term should take care of those standard issues without jeopardizing security, health and others for the safety of the inmates, he added.