Creation of juvenile detention centre bogged down over private company involvement concerns

Members of the House finance committee have voiced their concern at the government’s intention to open tenders for the construction of juvenile detention centres to private companies.

MPs Christiana Erotokritou, Aristos Damianou, Andreas Kafkalias, Christos Christofides, Sotiris Ioannou and Alekos Tryfonidis, who form the majority of the committee, refused to release the €719,600 needed to pave the way for international tender offers, as they are against the involvement of private companies, daily Politis reported.

A law establishing a detention centre for juvenile offenders was voted in a year ago, as Cyprus is the only EU member state with no juvenile detention facilities.

According to reports, the majority of the MPs in the House finance committee on Monday, led by Akel representatives Damianou, Kafkalias and Christofides, are staunchly opposed to private company involvement as they claim it is the responsibility of the state to guarantee the correct functioning of juvenile detention centres.

Another concern is that private companies would not have the rehabilitation of young offenders as their main goal, but would be mainly motivated by financial interests.

During the committee, Damianou said the law does not allow to transfer powers given to the state to private individuals and that the government has had five years, as the issue of juvenile detention centres was first discussed in the House in 2017, to come up with a feasible plan that would not involve private companies.

But Justice Minister Stefi Drakou said that neither the public nor the private sector in Cyprus have the know-how and expertise to run a correctional institution for juvenile offenders.

“Hence the tender that will be launched, if and when the House finally releases the funds, will be pan-European and will also include the United Kingdom, where such private detention centres for juvenile offenders have been operating for a long time,” she said.

Drakou added that there would be strict and repeated checks carried out at the detention centres, both from the justice ministry and the children’s rights commissioner’s office.

Children’s rights commissioner Despo Michaelides said she was in favour of opening tenders to private companies, but urged the government to create the conditions for effective state control.