Rethink needed on approach to prisons
Life in prison is not meant to be easy. Our society dictates that those who commit crimes that warrant detention should be made to see the error of their ways so that they do not cross onto the wrong side of the law again.
Jail, therefore, should be devoid of the creature comforts associated with life beyond prison walls. Facilities should be basic, with adequate food, recreation space and perhaps a small amount of money for work done.
Hong Kong's prisons provide that, generally to a degree better than in many other parts of the world. Nonetheless, conditions for prisoners and the people who ensure they are secure and taken care of is getting increasingly difficult.
Our prisons are overcrowded. Government funding cuts to the Correctional Services Department have meant fewer staff and, therefore, heavier workloads.
The outgoing head of the Lai Chi Kok Reception Centre, Chief Superintendent Sunny Leung Kam-yau, warned on Sunday that prison guards were doing up to three times as much work as two years ago. Staff numbers had been reduced by 400 in that time, he said. The problem could lead prisoners to riot, he warned.
The department's 24 correctional institutions are on average 14 per cent over capacity, but some prisons have more severe problems. Lai Chi Kok was built for 960 people, but houses 1,500.
Almost three in 10 of Hong Kong's 12,427 prisoners are from the mainland. Many of them come here as tourists and are caught stealing or working as prostitutes. Rather than being sent back across the border, they are sentenced by our courts and jailed to deter them from committing crimes in the city in the future. After serving their sentences, they are returned to the mainland.
An attempt by the government to stop the overcrowding went awry last November when plans for a $12 billion 'superjail' on Hei Ling Chau were rightly scrapped after strong public opposition.
Funding has since gone towards redevelopment of existing prisons to create a further 1,600 cells, and 45 new staff positions have been budgeted for this year. Such measures will help, but they fall far short of what is necessary to ensure the department's 6,500 staff can do their job properly. That the number of repeat offenders from the mainland is not dramatically falling suggests the existing policy fails to provide the effective deterrent intended.
Last year, the government proposed allowing mainland prisoners to serve their sentences on the other side of the border. This would enable them to be closer to their families and help ease the overcrowding in Hong Kong. The suggestion seemed to receive a positive response from Beijing. The idea should be pursued.
This should form part of an urgent government review of its approach towards prisons to prevent what has been a robust system from steadily deteriorating.
