Today VAS Tiesu namu aģentūra (TNA) has announced the procurement for the construction of Liepāja Prison, which provides for the start of construction works in the second half of 2017, with the facility to be commissioned no later than 4 years after the start of construction works. Liepāja Prison will be the first place of detention to be built in Latvia since the restoration of independence.
Santa Sausiņa, TNA board member: “Given the importance of the facility, we have developed detailed procurement regulations for the construction of Liepāja Prison, providing for the selection of highly qualified bidders. The law allows contractors holding an Industrial Security Certificate for work with state secrets to be engaged in implementing the construction project, and this does not exclude the participation of foreign contractors either.”
The procurement regulations for the construction of Liepāja Prison were developed by TNA in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice, the Prison Administration, the Latvian Association of Civil Engineers, and the Latvian office of the law firm Sorainen.
The development of the Liepāja Prison building design was supervised by the State Real Estate Agency of Estonia, which has already implemented several prison projects in Estonia since the restoration of independence. The building design was developed by the Latvian company SIA Rem Pro. The Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Latvia has delegated implementation and supervision of the construction process to VAS Tiesu namu aģentūra.
The prison design envisages several innovations that have not previously existed in either the Latvian or the Estonian prison system. For example, at Liepāja Prison, by planning the layout of the premises, contact between inmates during their movement will be minimized as much as possible. By thoughtfully designing the placement of guard posts, the number of security staff will be reduced, all reinforced concrete walls of the residential blocks will be built with an additional anti-radio-wave metal mesh that blocks mobile communications by up to 95% and ensures inmate isolation, infrared (thermal) cameras will be installed, and remote control of cell door locks will be introduced, making it possible to reduce the number of security staff.
Liepāja Prison is designed for 1 200 inmates. The whole complex comprises 8 different buildings. The total territory area is 305 116m², the total built-up area is 64 053,7m², the total floor area is 51 407,4m². The complex will be located 5,6 km from the center of Liepāja. The prison complex will include inmate residential blocks, a large employment center with work opportunities for inmates, an education center with rooms for spiritual and sports activities, a multi-functional building for inmate intake, a medical unit, enhanced-regime detention rooms, a meeting room and staff canteen, and other auxiliary premises. With the start of operation of Liepāja Prison, 3 existing places of detention will be closed, where working and living conditions do not meet modern requirements and on the maintenance and security of which huge funds are spent every year.
Liepāja Prison is the first place of detention that Latvia will build since the restoration of independence. The prison complex will be located in Liepāja, at Alsungas iela 29. The project provides for the accommodation of 1200 inmates, implementing a new-level resocialization program for the education and integration of inmates into society. More than 400 staff are expected to work at the new prison complex.
The state joint-stock company Tiesu namu aģentūra (TNA) was established in 1997. TNA is a commercial company whose shares are 100% state-owned. TNA’s core activities include managing, maintaining, and administering real estate held by the Ministry of Justice, ensuring the operation of IT infrastructure, and publishing legal educational and instructional literature, legal acts and their compilations, and compilations of court rulings.