From Caribbean News Service

KINGSTON, Jamaica, Jan 14 2017 – The Jamaican government has rejected a £25 million deal with the United Kingdom government that would have resulted in London building a maximum-security prison here.

Former British prime minister David Cameron had outlined the deal during his visit to the island in 2015 even as the then Opposition Leader Andrew Holness said then that he would have preferred the money being used to build schools.

Holness, who led his Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) to victory in the general elections last February, had told legislators in October 2015 that he had taken note of Britain’s efforts at building its society based on a sound educational background and that such a policy should be adopted here.

“As it turns out, building schools contribute much more to the growth agenda than building prisons,” Holness said then.

Foreign Affairs Minister, Kamina Johnson Smith told legislators that “the terms they (UK) have provided are not beneficial to Jamaica as a whole and so we (Government) have rejected it”.

In October 2015, the Ministry of National Security under the People’s National Party (PNP) administration, sought to highlight the benefits of the UK prison deal to the local prison population.

It said then that the new facility would provide relief for inmates who have endured overcrowded and unsatisfactory conditions at the centuries old Tower Street and St Catherine correctional centres.

For more on this story go to: http://caribbeannewsservice.com/now/jamaica-rejects-britains-offer-to-build-maximum-security-prison/