Honduras offshore prison project in danger of sinking

The third bidding process to award the contract to build a maximum security prison on Honduras’ Cisne islands – 250km from the mainland – flopped, authorities announced. 

Despite the third failure, the government has insisted it will launch the process as many times as it takes. 

The commander of the military police and the head of the penitentiary institute, Ramiro Muñoz, said September 19 was the deadline to present proposals but none was received.

“The third [tender] took place, we had to choose [on Friday] and the companies did not show up,” he was quoted by daily La Prensa as saying. “The Honduran banks do not want to endorse this process or offer the guarantees for the companies so that the government has support.”

Muñoz added that the government will offer updates in case any of the companies can come up with a bank guarantee. 

Xiomara Castro’s government recently asked congress to approve 1.8bn lempiras (US$72.4mn) for the project in the 2025 budget bill. 

The project has been heavily criticized due to the estimated cost of shipping staff and construction materials to and from the islands, and because of the environmental damage it would cause to the Caribbean region’s ecosystem. 

According to experts consulted by BNamericas, the cost of the project could top US$800mn. However, the government has said it will not exceed US$100mn. 

Environmental concerns have not been fully addressed but officials have announced that the environmental license has been approved after many months of delays.