The construction of the first short-term jail in Moldova will begin in February. The project is managed by the Department of Penitentiary Institutions (DIP) and should be completed by 2016. The jail will be erected in Balti. The investments is estimated at 250 million lei, with the money being allotted gradually from the state budget, IPN reports.

The area offered for the construction of the jail is about 3.2 hectares. Besides the control unit, a catering facility with food stores will be built. The new jail will have a capacity of 650 beds.|

The need for such a facility is due to the fact that most prisons in the country cannot hold short-term detainees for 6 and 9 months in blocks separate from those of other inmates.

According to DIP information, the north, central and south areas have been identified for covering all the districts and a jail will be built in each of them. The Balti jail will take on the temporary imprisonment tasks for the northern districts. The other jails will be built at an unspecified time in the future.