Lt Col Richard Sadler tours one of the male blocks. Cells open to rows of tables and chairs.

Prisoners entering the new Horizon Adult Remand Centre at Bumper Hall, St Andrew, won’t have to gasp for air or squint as their eyes become adjusted to cave-like darkness.   Instead they will be flooded with light, space and air – scarce commodities in Jamaican prisons and locks-ups.

Major Renrick Hall, of the Jamaica Defence Force, shows the state-of-the-art all-in-one toilet/wash basin/water cooler, imported from South Africa.

The state-of-the-art facility was meant to be a model for similar institutions across the Caribbean, and was created to redeem the sordid reputation of the island’s prisons and lock-ups. Its pleasant newness is enclosed by top-level security features that should "take some effort and collusion" to breach.   Security consciousness was evident even in the installation of some accessories.

"Each lock is installed in the presence of representatives from the JDF (Jamaica Defence Force), Corrections and the contractor.  And same person handling the locks can’t handle the keys, "said Lieutenant Colonel Richard Sadler, Commanding Officer of the One Engineer Regiment of the JDF and project overseer.