Green Hong Kong Prison Draws Criticism

HONG KONG — Hong Kong opened its first green jail last August, featuring a green roof, solar panels, natural lighting system and enhanced ventilation system but the environmentally friendly attributes drew a barrage of criticism from the public and press earlier this month.
 
After winning a green building award in early November, critics seized on Lo Wu to accuse the government of favoring the prison population over law-abiding citizens.

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Green Hong Kong Prison Draws Criticism

HONG KONG — Hong Kong opened its first green jail last August, featuring a green roof, solar panels, natural lighting system and enhanced ventilation system but the environmentally friendly attributes drew a barrage of criticism from the public and press earlier this month.
 
After winning a green building award in early November, critics seized on Lo Wu to accuse the government of favoring the prison population over law-abiding citizens.

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Belgian Shortlists PPP Prison Bids

BRUSSELS, Belgium — The planned construction of up to 1,600 new cells moved closer after Belgian officials shortlisted bidders for four new prisons.
 
The four new prisons, which will be located in the regions of Flanders and Wallonia and incorporate 300 to 400 cells, will be delivered under public-private partnership, according to the Belgian Buildings Agency.
 
Procured separately, the design, build, finance and maintenance contracts, have an estimated capital expenditure value of approximately $83 million to approximately

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Ireland Ditches PPP Delivery of $555 Million Prison

DUBLIN, Ireland — The Department of Justice and Law Reform approved the issuing of tenders for the first two housing units at a planned $555 million prison complex outside Dublin as government officials abandoned public private partnership in favor of a more traditional procurement process to deliver the largest prison in the country’s history.
 
The proposed Thornton Hall Prison, located on a 140-acre Greenfield site in Kilsallaghan, will now be built in three phases to deliver a total of 1,400 cells in multiple housing units with an operational c

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South Korea Segregates Foreigners

CHEONAN, South Korea — Foreign offenders and inmates in South Korea will be housed in a single dedicated prison after officials unveiled a 1,230-bed detention facility described as the world’s first purpose-built prison for foreign nationals.
 
The Cheonan Correctional Institution for Foreign Nationals, located in South Chungcheong province, about 55 miles south of Seoul, encompasses 49 buildings with a combined 4.5 million square feet of operational space.
 
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E.U. Rights Commissioner Demands Education not Punishment

STRASBOURG CEDEX, France — The efficacy of the youth justice system in Britain and adult system in France fell under scrutiny this fall following recent reports by the Council of Europe’s human rights watchdog.

Thomas Hammarberg, COE commissioner for human rights, strongly urged British and French officials to overhaul detention policies regarding confinement, punishment and rehabilitation in order to protect the human rights of both youth and adult detainees.

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UK Revises Plan to Revamp Aging Prisons

LONDON — The United Kingdom government scrapped its controversial $4.8 billion plan to construct three 2,500-bed prisons and will instead build a series of 1,500-bed prisons to expand bed capacity in England and Wales.

The revised proposal calls for up to five smaller prisons that will deliver up to 7,500 beds — the same number of beds as the scrapped large-prison plan — at a cost of $5.1 billion.

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