Image Credit: oibdc.ca
May 22, 2014 - 2:28 PM
OLIVER - Construction of the new Okanagan Correctional Facility in Oliver will officially begin with a goundbreaking ceremony tomorrow.
Osoyoos Indian Band Chief Clarence Louie will be joined by Attorney General Suzanne Anton, local dignitaries and project partners for the event at the Senkulmen Business Park, 200 Enterprise Way, located just off Highway 97 and about seven kilometres north of Oliver.
The $250 million project to be built on Osoyoos Indian Band land is expected to be finished in 2016. It will house 360 male and 18 female inmates and employ 240 correction officers and staff.
The prison is expected to have a positive effect on the community, providing local jobs during constuction and long-term employment for staff. Those benefits should also spill to local merchants.
Some inmates may be tasked with clearing brush and debris in the community and may also be called upon to help fighting forest fires, among other jobs according to justice ministry spokesperson Brent Merchant.
To contact a reporter for this story, email marcher@infotelnews.ca, call 250-488-3065. To contact the managing editor, email Marshall Jones at mjones@infotelnews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
News from © iNFOnews, 2014