14-10-2020 02:30
8 classrooms, a gym, a computer room, workshops for labor and qualification activities - this will be available to the new training center at the prison in Pazardzhik. The aim is to support social activities in the preparation of the imprisoned in the process of adaptation and their inclusion in society after their release.
The construction activities for the reconstruction of the existing production workshop in the prison and its transformation into a modern training center started today in the presence of the Deputy Minister of Justice Prof. Nikolay Prodanov, Director General of the General Directorate Execution of Sentences /GDES/ Chief Commissioner Ivaylo Yordanov, the head of the Pazardzhik prison, senior commissioner Veselin Kotsev and other guests. The site is expected to be put into operation by the middle of next year, and the funds for the reconstruction and equipment are grants under the Justice Program under the Norwegian Financial Mechanism 2014-2021 /NFM/.
"Thanks to our Norwegian partners, conditions will be created here to acquire the necessary skills to deal with life outside. For the imprisoned, part of a program implemented in Norwegian prisons will be adapted to enable them to continue the reintegration process at a time when they still need monitoring and supervision. We are convinced that in this way we contribute to reducing the risk of recidivism, unlike the cases when prisoners are released without a transitional period", said today in Pazardzhik the relevant Deputy Minister Prof. Nikolay Prodanov.
The site is part of the project "Ensuring a safe and secure material environment in places of imprisonment and detention centers" under Program Area 19 "Correctional services and pre-trial detention" of the Justice Program NFM 2014-2021. It envisages that in the prison hostels "Hebros", "Samoranovo" and "Stroitel", respectively to the prisons in Plovdiv, Bobov Dol and Burgas, to be separated transitional wards /half-way house/, thus a new social -integration concept for adaptation of prisoners in their inclusion in society. The project also includes activities to improve the material conditions in the building of the prison in Plovdiv, a new detention center and probation service in Petrich, a new arrest in Samoranovo and the establishment of a new prison hostel at the Vratsa prison.