The proposal for a home that will cater for ex-prison inmates’ re-integration into society will only house three to four inmates, this newspaper has confirmed.
However, Labour MP Chris Agius has declared his opposition to the home which will be located in Matty Grima street in Bormla, and administered by prisoners’ rights group Mid-Dlam Ghad-Dawl.
The home will be used for former inmates from Bormla who are homeless.
In a separate statement, Family and Social Solidarity Minister Dolores Cristina said the fact that the home is close to the Mid-Dlam Ghad-Dawl organisation, this would facilitate the NGO’s running of the house, adding that former prisoners housed there will benefit from services offered by Access, which is also situated nearby.
Chris Agius is however outraged at the fact that the government approved a house for ex-prisoners which will be situated in Bormla without having consulted Bormla residents.
In parliament, the minister said there are many houses in Malta and Gozo which offer shelter to persons released from the Corradino Correctional Facility and have nowhere to go. She added that the Housing Authority is helping in the house arrangements so as to be able to provide shelter, help and support the ex-prisoners need.
L-Ewwel Kenn, the project for former inmates, will be accessible to newly released prisoners who hail from Bormla and who have no other temporary shelter at hospices. Persons who have already benefited from the temporary accommodation will not be able to reuse the service in the future, while every person expelled from the shelter as a disciplinary measure loses the right to re-enter the house.
Additionally, with each grant for ex-prisoners to live in the temporary shelter, the Bormla police station will be notified, and each prospective resident of the house must agree with the conditions before entering the home.
Residents will also only be allowed to live in the home for a period of six months, after which they must find an alternative residence. Mid-Dlam ghad-Dawl can also stop offering shelter to any resident on various reasons, such as drug abuse or if they introduced drug abusers to the house.