The Latvian Prison Administration has signed a contract with "Pillar Contractor" Ltd. for the construction of the new Training Centre in Olaine for those employed in prisons. The construction of the new Training Centre is planned to be completed in 12 months.
The construction contract price is EUR 6,364,029.82 without VAT (EUR 7,700,476.08 with VAT), of which 85% or EUR 5,409,425.35 without VAT (EUR 6,545,404.67 with VAT) is the Norwegian government or Norway Grants financing, while 15% or 954,604.47 euros without VAT (1,155,071.41 euros with VAT) is state budget financing.
Dmitrijs Kalins, head of the Latvian Prison Administration, emphasizes: "Effective punishment enforcement policy can only be implemented by qualified and psychologically stable personnel. In recent years, we have increased attention to the professional development of personnel, purposefully planning both the creation of a modern and appropriate training environment for personnel, and also improving the content of the personnel training system."
With the construction of the new Training Centre building, a new stage in the prison employee training process will be initiated – prison officials and employees will be provided with the opportunity to study in premises suitable for the specifics of their work, and employees will be taught using several new training programs. The new Training Center and the new training programs will make it possible to provide prison officials and employees with specific and versatile knowledge and skills in order to more professionally and qualitatively perform the assigned work duties, which will contribute to greater public safety.
Initially, it was planned that the new Training Centre would be opened in the spring of 2023, but in 2022 the Latvian Prison Administration had to terminate the contract for the Training Centre construction with SIA "Velve". The existing construction contractor "Pillar Contractor" Ltd. was selected as a result of an open tender, and it is planned that a modern training centre for Latvian prison staff will open its doors in the spring of 2024 in Olaine.
This project plays an important role in the Latvian penitentiary system reform process. The new Training Centre in the Olaine Prison territory is a step forward in ensuring modern and effective sentences execution in Latvia.
More information:
The Training Centre construction is being implemented within the framework of the Latvian Prison Administration project "Establishment of Training centre infrastructure and model prison blocks for training opportunities in the Olaine prison territory" No. 1-6.4/2-2019 with the Norway Grants financial support.
It has already been reported that the Latvian Prison Administration closely cooperates with Norwegian correctional service colleagues, and their experience and support in the reorganization of the training process has been particularly important in the planning and implementation of a modern correctional service training system.
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