Date:09/08/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/08/09/stories/2008080956672000.htm

Front Page

Convict ‘shortage’ in Singapore

SINGAPORE: Singapore has stopped the construction of two prisons partly because the city state’s aging population is not producing enough criminals, its prisons director said. Ng Joo Hee said work on two of the four prisons of the Singapore $1 billion Changi Prison Complex was halted after the number of inmates fell to a 10-year low of 11,768 last year. Singapore has some of the stiffest penalties for crime in the world, including cane lashes and death by hangingfor some drug offences. — AP