Darwin, Alice Springs jails 'crammed full'

The Northern Territory Prison Officers Association (NTPOA) says there is no more room for prisoners in the Territory's jails.

Justice Minister Syd Stirling is predicting the number of people convicted of crimes will rise because of the Commonwealth's intervention in the Territory.

The NTPOA's secretary, Colin Edwards says the Darwin and Alice Springs jails are already crammed full.

"Alice Springs has got dormitories that was originally built for eight prisoners, which has now got 15 prisoners housed in them," he said.

"There is a couple of areas in Darwin where they have converted other parts of the prisons into dormitories, just to actually create the space that we've got now."

Mr Stirling says prisons are over capacity, but says a new jail to cope with the influx will be at least four years off.

"The prison officers that look after our prisons and the superintendents and the management deserve our commendation for the job they do given that we're stretching their resources," he said.

"We get a great effort from those people but we will need to put in over the next three to four years interim measures."

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Wed, 11 July 2007
Source: Australian Broadcasting Commission (Australia-Web)
Website: http://www.abc.net.au/