Hopefully the prison will be nicer than this one when it’s done. Photo by Marine Perez via

David Cameron has just announced that Britain will be building a prison in Jamaica, at an estimated cost of £25 million [$34 million]. Currently, Britain is unable to deport Jamaican prisoners from the UK because Jamaican prisons don’t meet international human right standards.

It’s estimated that there are over 600 Jamaican prisoners in the UK, the majority serving violent or drug-related offenses. After Cameron made the announcement as part of his official visit to Jamaica, the British government claimed the new prison will save taxpayers £10 million [$15 million] a year when it becomes operational in 2020. The Prime Minister also used his visit to Jamaica to announce a further £300 million [$454 million] of funding for other infrastructure projects in the Caribbean, including roads, bridges, and ports.

Announcing the new prison, Cameron said, “It is absolutely right that foreign criminals who break our laws are properly punished, but this shouldn’t be at the expense of the hardworking British taxpayer. That’s why this agreement is so important. It will mean Jamaican criminals are sent back home to serve their sentences, saving the British taxpayer millions of pounds, but still ensuring justice is done.”

Cameron’s visit to Jamaica had been overshadowed by calls from Jamaican MPs and campaigners for Britain to pay reparations for slavery. Cameron has ruled out the possibility of reparations, saying that it was “not the right approach.”