More Funds Needed to Run Prison
The Kolbe Foundation was first contracted to manage the Belize Central Prison since August of 2002. It has been managed by that institution since then. It costs, roughly, nineteen dollars and fifty cents per day, by Prison estimates, to house a prisoner. This converts to an average per year of eight point four million dollars to manage the facility, as set out by the Nelson Mandela Rules, which guides all aspects of prison management. The amount spent, of course, is dependent on the amount of prisoners that are housed at the facility in a given year. Last Friday, as part of its Supplementary Appropriation Bill, the Government requested more funds for to pay to the Foundation for this fiscal year. Prime Minister John Briceno explained.
Prime Minister John Briceno
Prime Minister John Briceno [File: December 3rd, 2021]
“One point five million (dollars) will be additionally required by the Ministry to support the Kolbe Foundation’s operation of the Hattieville Prison. The contract for which has been renegotiated to ensure the prison will be well-managed. Based on the budget they’re collecting they did not have enough to manage the prison and in effect, they gave us notice that they were prepared to get out of the management of the prison and so we had to [the Ministry of Home Affairs] sit down and renegotiate a new amount that they paid for the prison.”
The Government’s Supplementary Budget also called for an additional one point six million dollars for a minimum of a hundred and forty-two scholarships and financial assistance for students attending tertiary and post-secondary institutions and UWI overseas campuses. Four point five million dollars is also being sought for continued infrastructural works and to acquired heavy duty equipment. A further two million dollars is also needed for the Caracol Road and the Haulover Bridge works.
