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Cherisse Halsall reporting
This 53 foot tower is the third to be constructed on the prison compound.

The newly designed towers are being built to fill security gaps on the compound as well as to replace old, dilapidated and poorly constructed towers. The prison director told us more about bringing the concept of these towers to reality.

Virgillio Murrillo, CEO, Kolbe
"You could call me the visionary of this particular type of tower. It was a concept that I saw back in 2012 in the Dominican Republic it is not identical to theirs but I have improved on it. It should assist us in enhancing the security of the prison."

"It's more user friendly the prison guard who goes up there to guard can walk on a stair they don't have to use a ladder or something to that effect. It does have its own base radio it has a height that should be able to protect the guard and puts him in a position to ward off any incursion or prevent any one else from escaping so it has some good security features built into it."

2019 has been one of the worst years for The Belize Central prison in terms of security. Three Inmates escaped this year. Two were apprehended and brought back to the prison but one man is still at large.

Virgillio Murrillo, CEO, Kolbe
"Well we did have some challenges with escapes and that is why we are insisting on trying to build these towers regardless of our financial constraints."

Francis Woods, Board Member
"Our mission a secure humane facility geared toward meaningful rehabilitation and reintegration. The first part of that mission is security, security for the inmates security for the public and believe it or not a prison can get attacked from the outside trying to escape one particular person so it puts the guards it puts the inmates at risk of potential damage. Obviously the main reason is to keep inmates from escaping this one is strategically located in a spot we're we've had some previous escapes. So it's really a good spot to stop it, prevent escapes."

"There are two more spots, two more critical areas we'd like to get within the prison it's fairly safe now but having a proper tower would make it even more safe."

Of course the irony of the situation is that these secure towers designed to prevent escapes by inmates are being built by the inmates themselves. We got an inmate's take on what it was like working on the tower.

Phil Staine, Inmate Supervisor for Construction
"It was pretty tough but you know with the help of my fellow inmates we got it done and it wasn't something that was strange to me but to get the guys into it you know I had to give them a sense of what we were aiming for so that everybody could understand and we get it done you know."

"For sure it will bring more safety to the society due to less escapes in the prison and the prison will be more secure."

And while the prison is operated on inmate labour, prisoners are not paid for the work they do. We asked the prison director how he feels about claims that this type of unpaid labor is a form of modern day slavery.

Virgillio Murrillo, CEO, Kolbe
"One of the requirements by UN standards is that when prisoners are sent to prison, aside from protecting society by making sure they don't escape. The other requirement requirement by UN standards is to teach them, train them, rehabilitate them. This is one way of teaching a prisoner a skill. So there is a win win their for the prison as well as for the prisoner."

"I have seen prisoners who worked on this tower and other towers who had absolutely no skill not even in mixing cement, and today one of them were bragging to me when they were completing this tower that he built the sceptic all on his own. Imagine that!"

The tower was constructed over a 98 day period at a cost of $50,000. Materials and additional financing for the tower were sponsored by Benny's, Progresso Cement, and National Aggregates Ltd.