Cramped cells, security concerns - Corrections commissioner outlines challenges at ageing Tower Street facility

Even with plans to transfer 200 inmates from the Tower Street Adult Correctional Centre to another facility by the end of the month, the Kingston-based prison remained overcrowded as at Wednesday, November 11, with 1,559 inmates – nearly twice its capacity. The more than century-old facility was built to accommodate about 850 inmates.

Duane Smith, a member of Parliament’s Internal and External Affairs Committee, yesterday raised questions about the conditions in which inmates are living at the Tower Street and St Catherine correctional centres.

“The infrastructure of these aged buildings, because sometimes I see on social media people send out videos of inside the cells. I want to know if the older buildings in particular… if it makes it that more difficult for rehabilitation?” he asked.