Australian state to open new jail over soaring inmate population

Australia's Victoria state will open a news jail to combat rising inmate population, a top official announced on Thursday.

Gayle Tierney, Victoria's Corrections Minister, said the new facility at Ravenhall, 30 km west of Melbourne, would be open by December, reports Xinhua news agency.

Tierney said that 1,000 prisoners would be moved to the state-of-the-art facility within 10 weeks of its opening.

"We know we have got capacity issues in the prison system," Tierney told the media.

"This facility will alleviate most of the problems that we are facing and we are looking forward to having prisoners in this facility before the end of the year," said Tierney.

The prison, which will accommodate exclusively males, has been fitted with an electric fence and laser monitoring system.

More than 500 closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras will monitor the facility at all times with prison-wide lockdowns being easily allowed if a riot breaks out.

The prison will become functional as Victoria's jail population is predicted to soar to an all-time high of 7,590 inmates within the next 12 months.

--IANS

ksk