CNMI and Guam officials will meet this Wednesday to discuss a revenue-generating deal worth $4.3 million a year, Corrections Commissioner Anthony Torres told reporters on Monday.
Torres said he will meet with Guam officials, including Corrections Director Fred Bordallo, at the Vicente Taman Seman Memorial Building in Susupe.
“We will discuss the plan to have Guam inmates come to Saipan,” Torres said. “That is a revenue stream that we are looking into — we are going to help Guam ‘help us help them,’ ” he added.
Torres said Guam “is facing inmate overcrowding issues, and we want to alleviate that overcrowding by housing them here — it’s also a way for us to generate revenue.”
“For example, 100 inmates — 100 at $120 per diem, that’s $4.3 million revenue a year,” Torres added.
He said while here, the Guam officials will also tour the Corrections facility of Saipan.
Torres said the revenue from the deal will help expand the rehabilitation programs that he is implementing at CNMI Corrections.
These include fixing the Corrections’ kitchen, expanding outreach programs such as the agriculture projects for the inmates and other rehabilitation programs, he said.
“I’m not going to wait around for…federal grants to happen. I’m going to see how we can get these funds, and help our staff and inmates,” he added.
Torres said the CNMI Corrections facility can hold 500 inmates.
“Currently, we are just under 200 inmates, so we have space,” he added.
“I will personally handpick the inmates [from Guam], preferably non-violent ones, who are fairly young and healthy — we will start with those,” Torres said.
