Honduras to launch tender to build offshore penal colony in Q2

Honduras plans to launch a tender to build an offshore prison complex this quarter. 

The government had initially expected to start the tender process at the beginning of the year. Now, local outlet El Heraldo reported environment minister Lucky Medina saying that the national penitentiary institute could launch the tender in the coming weeks. “This will be in the second quarter of the year,” he said. 

In the same report, the head of the infrastructure and transport ministry (SIT), Octavio Pineda, said 10 companies with prison construction experience will be invited to participate in the tender, without mentioning any names.

Pineda said the armed forces – which will oversee the project by orders of President Xiomara Castro – asked for a list of companies with the required experience. The armed forces will now contact the companies to see how many are interested in the project, he added.

Castro issued an executive order to build the controversial prison after clashes between gangs in a female penitentiary close to capital Tegucigalpa on June 20 last year resulted in the deaths of 46 inmates.

The country’s civil engineers’ association has warned that the plan to build an offshore prison in the Cisne Islands 200km from the mainland could drain state coffers and destroy unique ecosystems.

The high transportation costs that the project faces has put its estimated capex at US$800mn.