Work starts on new jail in Pančevo - €23 million investment

On Monday, 30 May work started on building a new prison in Pančevo. It will have room for 500 inmates, 300 convicts and 200 in temporary custody, with the first inmates expected in two years.
The first foundation stone was formally laid by Minister of Justice Nikola Selaković, and the start of works was attended by Milan Stevović, Director of the Administration for the Execution of Criminal Sanctions, Saša Pavlov, Mayor of Pančevo, and representatives of judicial and city institutions.

“The new prison will be built on ten hectares of land on the existing site which is part of the present Pančevo District Jail and lies on the road to Bavanište”, said the Minister of Justice.

Covering 24,000 m2, the whole complex is planned to consist of seven buildings: two to house the prisoners, a kitchen, an administrative block, reception, a visitors` building and technical installations. The value of the building and its equipment is €23 million, of which the Central European Bank will provide a credit of €18 million with Serbia providing €5 million for equipment.

The project was made by the Belgrade company Coming 1 d.o.o., with the Belgrade companies JV Gradina d.o.o and Credo d.o.o. as contractors.

“The prison will be built to the most modern standards and I can say that it will be the most modern in Serbia”, said Selaković.

The whole complex is planned to be enclosed with a perimeter protection system, and the building itself by IC sensors with several hundred cameras for video supervision. At the entrance there will be unbreakable glass, KD doors of a new generation, a tunnel for scanning objects and a room for personal body search.

The existing district prison in Pančevo lies in the city centre in the pedestrian zone, and will be moved when the works are finished. The idea is for that building, which belongs to the Ministry of Justice, to be handed to the city administration for use as a museum.

Serbia currently has 35 jails of which five lie in Kosovo and Metohija. Apart from the Pančevo prison, a new punitive-rehabilitative institution is planned in Kragujevac, with building to start by the end of the year, according to Selaković.

“By building this prison, the Kragujevac prison, and new pavilions in Zabeli, Sremska Mitrovica and Leskovac, we shall obtain optimal capacity, considering the total number of persons in detention, so there will be a place for every person, and perhaps even more places per person”, said Selaković.

Translation provided by: www.halifax-translation.com