Fort Augusta Adult Correctional Centre

Fort Augusta Prison
Fort Augusta Adult Correctional Centre
Location Portmore, St Catherine, Jamaica
Coordinates 17°58′00″N 76°50′53″W / 17.9666245°N 76.847949°WCoordinates: 17°58′00″N 76°50′53″W / 17.9666245°N 76.847949°W
Status Operational
Security class Maximum security
Capacity 250
Population Up to 280
Managed by Operated by the Department of Correctional Services for the Ministry of National Security

Fort Augusta Adult Correctional Centre, formerly Fort Augusta Prison, is Jamaica's only prison for women.[1] It was built to accommodate 250 female inmates[2] but has held over 280 on occasions.[2][3] It has been known to run short of food.[4]

It is operated by the Department of Correctional Services for the Ministry of National Security.

Fort Augusta was originally an ocean side fortress built by the English in the 1740s to provide the main defence for Kingston Harbour’s west side.[5] It was completed in the 1750s and named Fort Augusta in honour of the mother of King George III.[1] In 1763 lightning struck the fort and its three thousand barrels of gunpowder causing an explosion that broke windows 17 miles away and killed three hundred people.[1][5] The shocks created a crater which had to be filled before reconstruction could begin.[1] Nowadays, the remains of the fortress consists of massive crumbling walls of brick that have been fortified with other materials (including barbed wire).[5]

Some years ago, the DCS sold the land on which Fort Augusta sits to the Port Authority of Jamaica.[5] At the time, the DCS had plans to build a 5000 inmate prison that would accommodate both males and females and relieve the overcrowding faced by most prisons in Jamaica.[5][6] However, while the new facility is long in coming a move is still anticipated so no one is willing to do any renovations to Fort Augusta.[5]

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References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Fort Augusta, Jamaica National Heritage Trust.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Makeshift weapons increasing prison deaths, Tyrone Reid, Jamaica Gleaner, 2004-02-08.
  3. ↑ Comparison of daily averages* over a 10 year period (1997-2006) by institution and sex, Department Of Correctional Services, 2007.
  4. ↑ Prisoners Abroad News Volume 16 Issue 2 Summer 2005, Jamaica, Page 5-6.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Behind these walls, Part 2, Christina Xu, 2007-07-19.
  6. ↑ New prison set to be built, JIS, Jamaica Gleaner, 2007-10-24.