Plans to address the persisting problems in the central prison will likely include a mobile phone signal interruption system and the creation of a new facility, with a corresponding set of measures to be made public by the end of March, Justice Minister Costas Fitiris said on Monday.

Speaking before the House human rights committee, Fitiris said that he has proposed to discard the initial plans for the expansion of the existing building, amounting to an estimated cost of €40 to €50 million, and instead suggested the establishing of a new prison outside of the capital’s urban area.

He said that the government to complete the design of a new facility within a year, however added that construction may take up to five years, even if works were to begin immediately.

Fitiris identified overcrowding and the co-imprisonment of serious and low-level offenders as the facility’s most pressing issues, stressing that measures to address them were already underway.

These include the deportation of migrants convicted of minor offences, such as illegal employment, though he conceded that deportations alone would not significantly ease overcrowding.

Further measures involve the use of electronic surveillance and an extension of the period for granting presidential pardons.

Meanwhile, a system detecting mobile phone signals inside prisons has been put in place for three months, resulting in the confiscation of 90 mobile phones as part of efforts to curb organised crime activity behind bars.

The minister said that he was planning to pay another visit to the central prison and meet with involved stakeholders soon, in what would mark his fifth visit since he was appointed minister in early December.

More to follow.