Justice Minister Visits New Jail Site in Pictou County

Justice Minister Ross Landry marked the beginning of construction of the Northeast Nova Scotia Correctional facility in Pictou County today, Sept. 30.

Crews began clearing trees and preparing the land for construction earlier this week.

"I am very pleased that work has begun on our new correctional facility," said Mr. Landry. "We're investing over $30-million in this project and it's going to create 70 new correctional jobs, in addition to the employment created during construction.

"This is a significant investment in the justice system that will help stimulate the local and provincial economy. I am very much looking forward to opening the doors to this new, modern and safe facility by early 2014."

The land-clearing contract was open to Mi'kmaq companies only. Pine Breeze Logging Services is expected to complete the work in three to four weeks.

"We have been working with the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi'kmaq Chiefs and local First Nations since the early days of this project," said Mr. Landry. "The importance of involving Mi'kmaq companies and people was identified early on and we were pleased to set aside the first part of this work."

Mr. Landry said the department will continue to look at other areas of Mi'kmaq involvement, including employment opportunities and cultural programming.

The next step is to tender a contract for the installation of sewer, storm and water lines as well as driveways, parking lots and the building area. This tender will be issued by the middle of October.

The next phase is the construction of the correctional facility. This tender is expected to be ready by the end of November, once the architectural drawings are complete. It will run for four weeks. Seven general contracting companies were pre-qualified to bid on this tender.

For more information, visit www.gov.ns.ca/just/Corrections/NENS.asp