Shipping containers are doing double duty in New Zealand as they become the country's latest answers to overcrowded jails.
The Australian Broadcasting Corp. reports that used shipping containers are being converted into prison cells.
"They certainly can be made into very nice homes," New Zealand Corrections Minister Judith Collins told ABC. "They can be made obviously into very good prison cells."
Prison advocates say it's akin to locking someone up in a tin can. The 12-meter long containers become three cells, each holding two men. It took 5 months to build a 60-bed prison.
Collins said the containers and double bunking have averted a bed crisis. The country has 8,700 inmates, a figure that ABC reports increases by about 70 each week.
Peter Williams of the Howard League for Penal Reform isn't buying it.
"Shipping containers are made to contain freight - to place in freight boats to take from A to B," he said. "They're not designed for human beings."
Williams said the country needs to reform its prisons. He said New Zealand has one of the highest incarceration rates in the Western world, second only to the United States.
He said there is not much emphasis placed upon reform or "getting at the root causes of crime."
"So crime soars, we have burgeoning prison populations, and now we're having to use these tin cans to put people in," he said to ABC. "It is absolutely disgraceful."
3 News journalist Patrick Gower voluntarily spent a night in the shipping container jail to see what it's like. His stay was at Rimutaka Prison where manager Dean Brosnahan told him "they're very comfortable."
Gower reported that the cell was "a little cramped but not too bad, particularly for a prison." He pointed out that the prisoners would be sharing the cell with another cell mate.
While critics are calling them inhumane, he said the "hardliners will probably be disappointed."
"On a wintry night, a heater makes the cells warm and toasty, and you never feel alone," he wrote.
Panama Guide reported that shipping containers would be used to build temporary prison cells while new prisons are built.
The article added that a similar system was being discussed in Argentina. The 18-square-meters discussed were to accommodate four detainees along with space for two tables, four benches and an area for toilets and connections for sewage and drinking water.
They were also to be used indoors so inmates are protected from bad weather.
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It's a great idea and should be looked at for Ireland too!
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