Nearly three quarters of the city's female inmates have been transferred to the first jail built in Hong Kong in more than a decade. The facility was officially opened by Chief Executive Donald Tsang Tuesday.

The HK$1.5 billion Lo Wu Correctional Institution is situated on 52,753 square meters in Sheung Shui. Already the facility has reached 85 percent of its 1,400 inmate capacity. It has space for 800 medium security inmates and 600 minimum security prisoners.

"This is a huge improvement in living environment because it's less congested, which was a problem especially in female institutions," Senior Superintendent Sylvia Chung said. "The Tai Lam facility was running at triple its capacity of 263 inmates, housing some 700 inmates and congestion was especially bad in (minimum security) because we can't mix (maximum security) and (minimum security) inmates," she said.

Lo Wu Correctional Institution was completed at the end of May and began accepting inmates in July. Now that roughly three-quarters of the city's 2,000 female inmate population has been transferred, upgrades and expansions to the Chi Ma Wan, Chi Sun and Lai Chi Kok Correctional institutions can begin, Chung said.

The facility is the most modern in the city, complete with hundreds of electronic locks and closed circuit television cameras increasing the effectiveness and monitoring by its 495 corrections officers and staff, she said.

It includes an outpatient clinic fully capable of providing maternity services and located next door is a parent-child center where newborns can stay onsite until they reach the age of three.

Aside from meeting rooms, the prison boasts video-link booths that allow inmates to communicate with family, friends and legal counsel from an office in Mong Kok.

The institution also offers sports and vocational training in which 10 percent of the general population is engaged at any given time, Chief Officer of the Rehabilitation Unit Tsui Chak-lin said.

Nearly three-quarters of inmates not helping in meal preparation or laundry are also employed in the facility's workshops, churning out belts, road signs, furniture and disciplined services uniforms with a monthly output of some 2,000 to 3,000 items, Tsui said.

Inmates' salaries range from HK$18.80 to HK$152.62 a week depending on skill sets. Inmates can save or spend their earnings on basic provisions but also risk losing their income as punishment, which may range from suspension of privileges to segregation from the general population.

The officiating guests observed a minute's silence before the ceremony to mourn the victims of the Manila hostage tragedy.

China Daily

(HK Edition 08/25/2010 page1)