Bathurst Correctional Centre will benefit from a $200,000 security upgrade as part of the NSW Government’s COVID-19 stimulus package.
Minister for Counter Terrorism and Corrections Anthony Roberts said the funding would be used to upgrade CCTV from analogue to digital in the older section of the prison.
“This $200,000 commitment is in addition to the NSW Government’s $3.8 billion investment in safer prisons, which includes the 220-bed expansion of Bathurst Correctional Centre,” Mr Roberts said.
“The expansion created dozens of construction jobs for the region, as well as 65 ongoing roles at the centre. The CCTV upgrade will bring security in the older part of the prison in line with the technology that was installed in the new expansion.”
Member for Bathurst Paul Toole said work on the CCTV upgrade was expected to begin this month and would be undertaken by local contractors.
“This is a win for Bathurst because the security technicians working on the project all live locally,” Mr Toole said.
“The expansion, which is very close to completion, also employed locally and at the peak of construction had 150 tradies on site.”
ARA Security general manager Jamie McNaughton said his company was proud to employ locally.
“We received an order to upgrade the systems and we have reinvested that in our local networks of staff that live in the Bathurst area,” Mr McNaughton said.
“Employing locally has ongoing benefits, because if the prison requires technical support, our security engineers are right there, on the ground, in some cases just five minutes from the prison.”
The COVID-19 stimulus package is injecting more than $100 million into regional communities across the state and includes $40,000 of funding for general maintenance at Mannus Correctional Centre in the Riverina.
