Decision to construct prison not final – Dr. Waheed

27 December 2007
Report: Ayya

Deputy Home Minister Dr. Abdulla Waheed has said that although it has been decided to construct a prison facility in Gan of Addu Atoll, the actual construction work will commence after re evaluating the plan and that plan is currently being re evaluated. Dr. Waheed made the statement to Miadhu when asked to comment on the recent protests made by some Adduans following government’s decision to construct a prison facility in Gan of Addu Atoll.
Dr. Waheed said although he read the news release of the Society for the Development of Addu (SDA) on internet, the issue has not been raised to the Ministry.
“The matter was not brought to the attention of the Ministry, the plan to construct the prison is being re evaluated, and we will require sufficient land in order to construct a prison facility with enhanced security features, the land which is allocated right now is not enough, at a time when every body is talking about reform, we should also take actions in a responsible manner isn’t it? We are reviewing it, whether to construct or not” said Dr. Waheed.

Dr. Waheed indicated that despite the decision, the construction of the prison facility would commence only after a through review and only is suitable amount of land space is allocated for the purpose. He said that a prison facility if constructed would incorporate high security features.

When asked if any planning was done on the prison construction before the announcement in a news conference, Dr. Waheed said “there was no proper planning as such, but as many who should be in jail are spending more time outside, we need a place to keep them in”.

He said the first phase of the new annex to the Maafushi Jail would be completed next month and would provide some relief to this problem. He said one fourth of the annex which has a capacity of 300 would be completed by end of January next year and would be utilized as soon as complete. He said the annex would be completed by the end of March or April next year. Dr. Waheed also informed that by April the minimum security prison to be constructed in Thilafushi would also be completed and once completed would ease the shortage of space problems in prisons.

The press release issued by SDA noted that Addu was an island connected to many economic development projects of the atoll and expresses their dissatisfaction over government decision to construct a prison facility in Addu.