Courthouse, rehab centre planned in Naboro prison complex

A self-contained correctional complex — complete with a courthouse, staff housing, a drug rehabilitation centre, and facilities for all categories of prisoners — is being planned for Naboro.

Acting Commissioner Auta Moceisuva unveiled the ambitious blueprint on Wednesday, describing it as a long-term investment that would transform how Fiji manages its prison population.

"The plan that we have for Naboro will be a self-sustained facility," Mr Moceisuva said.

The site, which sits deep in the hills beyond Naboro's existing farmlands, would centralise services currently scattered across ageing and overcrowded facilities around the country — beginning with the relocation of Suva Prison, which was built in 1912 and is well beyond its designed capacity.

Mr Moceisuva said the location was far from the existing Naboro complex.

"From where you see the fields that we have already planted in Naboro, the place we foresee is still beyond that place up in the hills," he said.

Having a courthouse on site would reduce the costly and security-intensive process of transporting prisoners to courts in Suva — a significant logistical challenge the service currently faces daily.

Staff quarters would also be built, allowing officers and their families to live within the complex — addressing both recruitment and retention challenges.

The plan also includes a dedicated drug rehabilitation centre, staffed by doctors, counsellors, and psychologists, as drug offences have surged to become the fourth most common category of crime among inmates.

Mr Moceisuva said the project was part of the Government's broader justice sector reform programme, supported by the Australian Government through the Ministry of Justice, and that groundwork was already under way.