21/5/96
Another 20 cells will be built at the Bunbury Regional Prison at a cost of $500,000, Assisting Justice Minister Kevin Minson said today.
Mr Minson said the laundry area in the prison's self-care unit would be converted to provide 10 cells and the minimum security section would be extended to include a further 10 cells.
Self-care unit laundry would be taken care of through the jail's main laundry.
"The funding was allocated through a supplementary funding provision announced a few weeks ago by the Ministry of Justice and appears in the 1996-97 Budget papers under the 1995-96 works in progress," the Minister said.
"The project is expected to be completed by the end of this year.
"It should also be noted that double bunking in prisons is not synonymous with overcrowding.
"Some prison programs include prisoners sharing cells and some prisoners simply prefer to share a cell."
Mr Minson said about 25 per cent of prisoners in regional jails shared cells, mostly by request.
Media contact: Caroline Lacy (09) 222 9211 or (09) 222 9595
