RIGA - Latvia's correctional institutions are facing a crisis, with the country's Prison Administration warning it may not have enough money to pay basic utility bills.
The government's tough new budget cuts dealt a severe blow to Latvia's correctional system, with some prisons merged or shutdown amid spiraling costs.
The Prison Administration Chief, General Visvaldis Pukite, has warned Justice Minister Mareks Seglins that the administration may run out of money by the end of the year.
The number of prisoners in Latvia has been on the rise in recent months, with the number of inmates increasing to 7,200, up from 6,500 six months ago.
The figure is likely to reach 7,800 by the end of the year, meaning the Prison Administration will need more than 2 million lats to meet estimated utility costs.
Under budget amendments approved by the government, spending in the Prison Administration will be slashed by 30 percent.
Pukite claimed the administration would have enough money to meet costs if funding was maintained at 2008 levels
FUNDING CRISIS
The Prison Administration has called on the government to approve additional funds in order to wrest the crisis facing the country's correctional institutions.
However, Pukite said there was no easy solution to the brewing financial crisis facing Latvian prisons.
"We are already economizing on everything we can: Parlielupe Prison has been shut down, several prison administrations have been merged, but the desired effect has not been achieved because utility bills have increased on the average all over Latvia," he said.
Documents recently submitted to the Justice Ministry paint a grim picture of the situation in Latvia's prison system.
Following a meeting with prison authorities, Seglins conceded the Prison Administration is facing the most critical situation of all the institutions and agencies responsible to the Justice Ministry.
Seglins admitted the situation could worsen and is planning to discuss the crisis facing Latvia's prison system with President Valdis Zatlers and Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis.
A 2007 report by the Latvian Center on Human Rights (LCHR) identified a number of key problems in Latvia's prison system, which is plagued by overcrowding, violence and a lack of adequate heating and sanitation facilities.
A subsequent human rights report on Latvia by the U.S. State Department in 2008 found the government had taken few measures to improve poor conditions or degraded infrastructure within Latvia's prisons.
