The construction of the new medium security correctional centre at Kimberley is nearing completion. The facility will provide accommodation for 3 000 adult male offenders

Contractor Grinaker-LTA, a subsidiary of the JSE-listed Aveng Group, has announced that it’s on track to handover the prototype prison in July this year. The firm’s R821-million construction contract is being undertaken in a joint venture with BEE company Keren Kula construction.

The contract has created significant employment opportunities in the area, with 1 400 people employed on site at its peak. Of these, 140 are ex-offenders, reports Cyril Kitching, senior contracts manager at Grinaker-LTA Building Inland.

Situated on Griekwastad Road, 1 km outside Kimberley, the prison features a design that’s planned to serve as a model for other new correctional facilities in South Africa. “The design is based on the focal point of the layout being the 10m wide ‘street’, which serves as the main corridor for the movement of people and the transportation of goods,” Kitching explains. A central control room is situated in the middle, to monitor this thoroughfare, with additional control rooms at each end of the “street”. Various buildings are situated on either side of it, including medical and education facilities, bakery and textile factory, a vocational training centre, multi-purpose hall, kitchen, laundry, social workers’ units and segregation unit.

“The 12 accommodation blocks and three recreation centres are situated behind these buildings, on both sides of the street,” states Kitching. Visitors’ and administration buildings, stores warehouse, offices and a garage for state vehicles also form part of the complex. Sports fields are being established.

Kitching says that the buildings are generally reinforced concrete structures with brick walls. Roofs are timber or structural steel with sheet metal covering and concrete roofs over secure areas. The prison complex comprises buildings totalling more than 41 574 m2 in size.

In addition to utilising local labourers, sub-contractors and suppliers wherever possible on this contract, Grinaker-LTA also offered a special HIV/Aids awareness programme in which all workers participated. In addition, the contractor worked with the National Youth Service and Training Programme to offer training and employment opportunities to youngsters aspiring to work in the construction industry. A total of 98 youths were trained in plumbing, electrical, carpentry, masonry and painting. The current labour force on this contract consists of 1 287 workers, of which 870 are from the local community and 149 are women, Kitching reports. “We make use of 31 subcontractors, which range from independent subcontractors and domestic subcontractors to nominated subcontractors doing specialised work such as electrical and mechanical installations. A huge number of suppliers are being used, most of which are local enterprises,” he concludes.

Construction of a R662 million prison outside Kimberley, one of seven new jails, was well underway, the construction company said on Wednesday.

The medium security facility would accommodate about 3,000 men and was due for completion in November 2008, said contractor Grinaker-LTA, part of the JSE-listed Aveng Group.

Three of the other prisons, announced in 2002, would be built in Leeuwkop, Johannesburg, Nigel on Gauteng's West Rand and Klerksdorp in the North West.

Chairman of Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services Dennis Bloem said the seven new prisons were designed to make rehabilitation of offenders easier by housing fewer people, about 10 to 15, in sections.

At present there were communal cells designed for 30 that housed up to 119 prisoners.

"By overcrowding you are brewing more criminals than rehabilitating them. You can't manage so many people in one cell. The smaller the group, the better for the social worker, for the psychologist, for the teacher and prison officials."

According to the University of London's International Centre for Prison Studies, South Africa had 160,198 prisoners by the end of 2006, but could accommodate 115,344 prisoners - an occupancy level of 138.9 percent.

Bloem said what contributed to the overcrowding was the large number of awaiting-trial prisoners, about 50,000.

He said the committee would meet the correctional services department on May 22 to get a progress report on the new prisons.

Grinaker-LTA contracts manager Cyril Kitching said the Kimberley prison was designed around a 10m wide central thoroughfare with a control room at its centre.

Medical and education facilities, industrial workshops, a vocational training centre, multi-purpose hall, kitchen, laundry and segregation unit would be situated on either side of this avenue. Twelve accommodation blocks and three recreation centres would be situated behind these buildings, said Kitching.

The facilities would cover more than 41,574 square metres and would be reinforced concrete structures with brick walls. Roofs would be made of timber or structural steel with sheet metal covering.

Kitching said local labour would be used for the project and workers would participate in an HIV/Aids awareness programme.