Blueprint for new prison unveiled

Air-conditioned rooms, recreational facilities, automatic equipment and state-of-the-art and energy-efficient design will be some of the features of a new prison in Susupe and a juvenile detention in Kagman which the CNMI government will construct by next year.

The Prison Task Force yesterday unveiled the blueprints for the two projects during a meeting with Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio, Lt. Gov. Jesus R. Sablan and other government officials as well as U.S.-based engineers and architects who drew up the plan.

Budgeted at over $22 million, the new prisons will meet the terms and requirements of a consent decree forged by the CNMI with the U.S. Department of Justice two years ago following findings of inhuman and deplorable conditions at existing facilities.

The Susupe project will sit on more than 100,000 square feet and will house the adult prison, the immigration detention as well as medical and psychiatric ward interconnected under the low- building.

This will minimize jailbreak and entry of contraband, while ensuring safety of the community and expending minimal public funds, according to Chuck Oraftik, senior vice president of Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum, Inc. which drafted the schematic design of the new prison.

The project initially will involve construction of the facilities for 344 inmates, including 25 beds reserved for the U.S. Marshal’s office on the island.

The initial phase, projected to cost over $17 million, will be sufficient to accommodate the needs of the judicial system, said Task Force chair Rep. Heinz S. Hofschneider. At present there are more than 100 people detained in Susupe jail.

The project, which will have a maximum capacity of 555 beds, with future expansion plan of up to 971 beds, will be bid out by December this year. Its completion is targeted on February 2003.

On target

“We are on target, we are on schedule. This is the long-term part of the consent decree. We are closing up on the short-term renovation part,” Mr. Hofschneider told reporters after the one-hour presentation.

Renovation and improvements on the current facility in Susupe are almost finished, allowing the Commonwealth to address some of the concerns raised by the federal government over their conditions.

Under the agreement, 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.

In recent months, the Susupe prison has gone through several jailbreaks and violent protests stemming from these substandard conditions that have caused extensive damage to the facility.

Mr. Tenorio, during the meeting, underscored the need to start with the new prison construction, noting that the courts even have to release from government custody those who have been charged of serious crimes due to lack of space in the prison.

“We have to build that because we have to meet the consent decree. We have no choice, we have to do it,” he told reporters afterwards in an interview, adding the design will meet the specifications and requirements of the federal government.

Pre-bid conference

The Kagman project, on the other hand, will be erected on a 24,000 sq. ft.-lot and will initially provide 24 beds, recreational and educational facilities, such as a ballfield and classrooms.

A pre-bid conference is scheduled to be held on July 10 for potential contractors, said Roger Lickman of Lickman and Associates. At least two companies have already picked up applications for the $4 million project.

Once the project is completed, officials expects to hire additional staff to man the juvenile facility, bloating operational expenses by about 75 percent.

Presently, 40 people work at the facility which has 11 beds, said Division of Youth Services Director Eloise Furey, eating up most of the $900,000 budgeted by the executive branch this year.

According to Mr. Hofschneider, the two projects will be needing additional $10 million to address all the phases. About $17 million have been allotted by the government so far from federal construction grants and local matching funds under the CIP/Covenant
702 agreement.

“We are progressing in the task force,” he said. “We would like to see that we attend to those problems and mitigate them efficiently and promptly.”