A tender has been published for the construction and operation of a private prison in Israel’s southern city of Beer Sheva. This project constitutes an enterprise being executed jointly with the private sector as part of the government's policy to promote projects in the infrastructure sphere.
The inter-ministerial tender committee for the building and operation of a private prison in collaboration with the private sector last week published the public invitation for pre-qualification to choose suitable candidates, who will be invited to participate in the PFI tender for the planning, building and partial operation of a prison in Beer Sheva. The committee comprises representatives of the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Internal Security and the Prisons Service.
The concessionaire that wins the tender will be required to plan, build and operate, together with the Prisons Service, a prison meant to house 800 inmates in seven wings. The State has the option of adding two incarceration wings for up to 240 more inmates. The agreement between the State and the concessionaire is for 25 years, at a price tag of more than one billion shekels ($207.8 million).
The tender is to be carried out in two stages. In the first stage, the inter-ministerial committee conducts pre-qualification of the candidates while the second stage - the submission of tender bids - will be open only to those groups that passed successfully the pre-qualification stage. The first stage is already underway, with the candidates required to submit their bids for pre-qualification by February 4, 2003.
Among others, the tender is designated for international entities and companies with experience, know-how and expertise in operating prisons around the world. The aim is to implement a model that has been successfully tried and is being operated today in many western countries the world over.
This method whereby the private sector plans, builds and operates the prison facilities has been adopted by various countries around the world, with two approaches in practice; the full privatization of planning, building and complete operation of the prison where the legislature bestows compatible authorization on the operator and the planning, building and partial operation of the prison primarily in the spheres of logistics, treatment and rehabilitation of the prisoners. The model adopted by the Minister of Internal Security is a combination of these two approaches. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
