prison.

But the idea behind Bermuda's new $14 million "correctional'' facility, prison officials argue, is to offer inmates positive goals to work towards.

Works Minister the Hon. Leonard Gibbons and prison transition coordinator Dr.

Derrick Binns spoke of the thinking behind the West End Correctional Facility during a private tour on Friday arranged for The Royal Gazette and former MP Sir John Plowman, who was the Minister's guest.

Mr. Gibbons revealed the overall completion date had been put back again, to the end of February, due to further snags in installing the security system.

He denied reports of foundation cracks due to the prison being built on landfill.

"It is not sinking into the ground,'' he said. "You can walk around the entire building and you won't see any cracks. You can't even tell where the reclamation begins.'' And he confirmed that no new prison guards would be hired to staff the facility, despite the fact that at 120 square feet, it is twice the size of Casemates Prison.

Since the Tumim report on the criminal justice system, the prison population has declined from 200 to 150, Mr. Gibbons said.

Moving the Prison Farm and its resources to the West End was a possibility if the prison population continued to decline, he added.

A suitable building for the farm already existed at the new prison. But he and Dr. Binns doubted whether the criminal population would drop sufficiently to warrant such a move.

Meanwhile, ideas ranging from an art gallery to a bed and breakfast hotel had been suggested for Casemates Prison once vacated, Mr. Gibbons disclosed.

Wedco was especially keen to get its hands on the building, originally navy barracks.

There are 220 cells next door at the new prison. They are split up into blocks for maximum security, normal housing, remand and segregation.

Each prisoner has his own cell, equipped with cot, porcelain sink with hot water, blackboard, desk and window. High risk prisoners have steel fixtures.

The lounge area in the normal housing block has backgammon and chess games, tables and cushioned chairs. Prisoners awaiting trial in the remand block have cable television.

There is a large laundry room and hotel-style industrial kitchen. For outdoor recreation, prisoners will have the use of a basketball court, tennis court and playing field.

A library and chapel are also located at the new facility. Four classrooms are available in which to teach courses such as computer training, and lawn mower and outboard motor repair.

And a recreational building houses a weightroom and series of workshops for woodwork, pottery, welding and other crafts.

There is also a mini hospital, dentist's surgery, and counsellors' offices.

Upon arrival, each prisoner will be given a formal orientation session and assigned a caseworker. "We hope to encourage positive behaviour in the prisoners by the way we have furnished the cells,'' psychologist Dr. Binns said.

"We want to try and change inmates' behaviour by showing them something to work towards.'' Having his own cell would allow each prisoner more time for thought and reflection, he added.

Mr. Gibbons said: "It's no longer just a lock `em up and throw away the key mentality.'' However, he assured security would in no way be compromised.

"We are moving from the 18th century to the 21st century,'' he said. The only real snag in the construction of the prison was the installation of the state-of-the-art security system, he said, which had now delayed completion by more than three months.

He pinned the blame on Sea-Land Construction. "The responsibility is with the contractor. They were given the contract and we expected that they knew how to install the security system.'' Only three new full-time prison staff were allowed for in the Budget, Dr.

Binns said. But the staff, who join Casemates' 89 prison officers, are all counselling staff: a psychologist, social worker and vocational officer.

"We could always use more staff,'' Dr. Binns said. "We could easily find them something to do.'' It would take more than a month to move in prison officers and another month for them to familiarise themselves with the new prison, Dr. Binns said.

He did not expect inmates to be moved in until at least April if all went smoothly.

As Minister of Organisation more than two decades ago, Sir. John Plowman fought hard for a new prison, believing conditions at Casemates for both inmates and prison guards were appalling and that it was a "dangerous place''.

As many as three to four inmates were sharing cells and high and medium risk prisoners were often thrown together.

"The worst job I had in Government was to have to go through Casemates periodically,'' Sir John recalled.

He was impressed with the new prison's security arrangements and the fact the cells were "as close to normal rooms as possible'', which would better prepare inmates for release into the community.

Square bars on the cell windows, made of steel wrapped in aluminium, would be tough for even Brian Rogers to remove -- he escaped last Christmas by removing his cell window's iron bars.

If a prisoner does manage to break out of his cell block, he will then have a hard time scaling its 14 to 20 foot concrete walls topped by menacing razor-ribbon wire.

The entire prison and its walls will be scanned by 15 security cameras which can pan, tilt, zoom and turn 360 degrees.

MAXIMUM SECURITY -- Former MP Sir John Plowman, prison plant supervisor Mr.

David Butterfield, prison transition coordinator Dr. Derrick Binns and Works Minister the Hon. Leonard Gibbons look at the new prison's central door locking and monitoring system in the "normal housing'' block.