It remains a mystery whether the new option for the construction of the prisons will go ahead. The Ministry of Justice and affected municipalities said this yesterday for the first time after the announcement of the construction of the new prisons in the area of Agios Sozomenos and after seeing the problems that exist, they agreed to wait for the studies and the cost.
As it turned out, the second option, after Mathiatis, is not easy either, since the problems that need to be overcome are many and in the end the final amount that the taxpayer will be charged will count. If the final decision is to build the prisons in the selected area, then some units will have to be moved since prisons and pigsties or a sewage plant cannot coexist.
As can be seen from the announcement of the Ministry of Justice itself, the final decision on the implementation of the project will be taken after the master plan and the necessary technical, environmental and other studies are completed and all the data are evaluated as a whole.
According to the Ministry, the meeting of Kostas Fytiris with the mayors of Latsia - Geri and South Nicosia - Dali Christos Pittaras and Stavros Hatzigiannis was held in a very constructive atmosphere and there was a substantial exchange of views, the positions and reasonable concerns of the Local Authorities were recorded and it was agreed to continue the dialogue in all subsequent stages of planning.
As part of the process, a state plot has been selected in the area of Agios Sozomenos, (with an area of 1 million sq.m.) in order to examine its suitability and proceed with the preparation of the relevant master plan and the required studies. Upon completion of the master plan, it will be presented to the Local Authorities and a consultation will follow, so that their views and documented suggestions can be taken into account before finalizing the design.
According to the Ministry, if the studies confirm the suitability of the site and the possibility of implementing the project, its promotion will be combined with the examination and, to the extent possible, satisfaction of fair and documented requests of the Local Authorities, especially in matters of infrastructure, environment and wider upgrading of the area.
Information from "F" states that the mayors urgently raised the issue of incompatibility of the area and asked either for the area to remain as it is with the transfer of the Dali - Geri livestock zone or the creation of new prisons there with the relocation of the pig farms and the creation of a livestock zone in another area. The municipalities are not against a project of enormous value, but not to coexist with pigsties and sewage.
In the meantime, the issue of prison overcrowding has become a daily concern for the Police as well, since police detention centers have also been converted into prisons, as a result of which they accommodate many times more than their capacity. An example is the detention centers of the Aradippou Police Station, where instead of eight prisoners they host 39. Already, as "F" wrote, by decision of the Minister of Justice, the detention centers in Mennogeia will be converted into central police detention centers, but the upgrade projects are slow. It is expected that they will accommodate 160 to 180 people.
In the meantime, in an effort to find prison guards to meet the needs, it is not excluded that vacancies will be announced where the submission of applications will be allowed by Greek interested parties.
Finally, as for the process of filling the vacant position of director of Central Prisons, it has been "stuck" for a while, due to the illness of one of the three main contenders. In the final list drawn up by an independent office, three persons deservedly claim the position, since the difference between them is one unit. He is a former military man, an academic and a person who worked in the Prisons in the past.
