The capacity of the Central Prisons in Ayios Andreas, Nicosia, will increase to 1,200 after a Cabinet decision, Justice Minister Anna-Koukkides Procopiou said on Thursday.
Making statements after the Cabinet meeting, the Minister said that the government decided to upgrade the prison to combat overpopulation.
“Overcrowding in prisons is a long-standing problem that we will seek to resolve immediately with the cooperation of the Ministry of Transport, which has assisted in cost estimation, but has also made it a top priority of the Department of Public Works, which will oversee the completion of the project.”
Responding to a question about the timeline for the upgrade of the prison facilities, the Minister of Justice and Public Order stated that the first phase, which concerns the upgrade of existing facilities, is expected to be completed within a year. However, she clarified that this is not final since it is currently under study by the Department of Public Works.
Regarding the second phase, which involves the study of constructing new prison buildings, the Minister of Justice stated that she cannot determine a timeline. She emphasised that the priority is to complete the study, followed by approval from the Ministry of Finance in order to incorporate the implementation into the Ministry of Transport’s program.
Prokopiou added that the completion of the first phase will add 220 beds to the prisons, while the Ministry of Justice and Public Order has already received approval for the recruitment of fifty new prison officers. She noted that an upgrade in the security wing cannot be done without the necessary personnel.
The Minister of Justice noted that the final plan is to create a prison with a capacity of 1,200 individuals, which will meet the needs of the Republic of Cyprus in the long run. Currently, the prisons accommodate 939 individuals, with numbers ranging between 950 and 1,050.
When asked if the plan to build new prisons outside the city has been abandoned, Procopiou replied that the Ministry has found previous plans, but the land is no longer available as it was before, and there is currently no space for the implementation of that plan.
Furthermore, she highlighted that the cost of the building alone, based on that plan, was 120 million euros plus VAT ten years ago, and now, ten years later, the cost has already increased, without available land.
The Minister of Justice stressed the need to find an immediate solution, which is upgrading the existing Central Prisons in Nicosia.
The decision has been met with anger by residents of Ayios Andreas, who have seen prison facilities expanding inside a residential area.
