Secretary for Security Ambrose Lee has formally opened Lai Chi Kok Correctional Institution, which he says will help relieve the problems of prison overcrowding and ageing penal facilities.

Speaking at the opening ceremony today, Mr Lee said the new institution not only provides more penal places than the decommissioned Victoria Prison that it replaced, but is equipped with more up-to-date facilities.

The institution, a 650-penal-place medium-security institution for female adult prisoners and detainees, was redeveloped from the old staff married quarters of Lai Chi Kok Reception Centre at Butterfly Valley Road and the former Kowloon Motor Bus Depot.

It consists of five multi-storey buildings comprising the reception office, visit room, dormitory, kitchen, dining halls, activity room, centre hospital, baby-care unit, parent-child centre, welfare unit, psychological services unit, beauty salon, computer room and workshops.

"The redevelopment required no additional land and won the support of the local community. It also showed how a department might enhance its services by maximising the use of existing resources," Mr Lee said.

State-of-the-art design

Commissioner of Correctional Services Pang Sung-yuen said the completion of the institution marked a milestone in the modernisation of female penal institutions in Hong Kong.

He said the state-of-the-art design and the use of a central computerised monitoring system of the new institution demonstrated CSD's commitment to keep pace with the times in applying the latest technology to enhance efficiency of daily operation.

With the new institution's completion, the total number of female places the department offers has increased significantly from 1,340 to nearly 2,000.

"The excessive admission of inmates has all along been one of the most pressing problems of our department over the years. The problem is mainly attributed to the upsurge in the number of female inmates. In June 2004, we witnessed a record high of nearly 3,100 female inmates," he said.

The overcrowding problem had been severe in all major female institutions for many years, with the occupancy rate in Tai Lam Centre for Women at 257% in June 2004. At that time, there were 715 prisoners, but the institution had a capacity for just 278.

"Although the completion of the institution cannot fully solve the longstanding overcrowding problem, the expanded capacity helps alleviate the situation to a large extent and enhances our ability to cope with the reoccurrence of the challenge in future."