A local community has decried plans by the United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands to set up a halfway house to support prisoners in their re-entry and readjustment to society.

The Woodlands New Broughton Sunset Rehabilitation Centre, if it gets the go-ahead, would be situated near to a school, much to the alarm of parents and local residents who fear for the safety of local children, reported the Jamaica Observer.

The Department of Correctional Services and the United Church of Jamaican and Grand Cayman, which owns the property, have together come up with US$30 million to renovate the building after it was severely damaged by Hurricane Ivan last year.

The centre originally housed elderly convicts in the adult correctional system in the 1980s. The former prisoners to be housed here this time will be for medium to low-risk persons on their way out of the system.

The centre aims to provide a halfway point where reintegration with the family can begin and men can be prepared for re-entry into the job market. The house guests would be under the professional supervision of caregivers.

Prison boss Major Richard Reese assured local residents that sex or violent offenders would not be among those place at the centre.