The newly opened family wing of Briman Prison in Jeddah, with 26 housing units ,offers a suitable atmosphere for prisoners to meet with their families. Brig. Fayez Al-Ahmary, director of prisons in the Makkah region, opened the facility recently considering its positive impact on prisoners and their families. The family wing is fully managed by women officers who ensure security and comfort of the prisoners' wives and children. It will have 44 housing units in the near future. The new facility was designed at 15-year-old prison considering the opinion of prisoners. It will receive wives of prisoners from 8 a.m. to 1.30 p.m. from Sunday through Thursday. The directorate of prisons has declared its intent to develop Briman Prison spending SR400 million. The project will be implemented in phases to replace old cells with new ones. "The main objective of the wing is to connect prisoners with their wives and children in a family atmosphere to satisfy prisoners' social and psychological needs," said a prison official. It also aims at strengthening family bonds of prisoners, the official said. It will encourage them to cooperate with the various reformation programs that would qualify them to return to his family and society as a constructive member. "All detainees as well as convicted prisoners including non-Saudis and prisoners held for all types of crimes will benefit from the family wing," the official told Makkah Arabic daily. "We believe that the family wing would encourage prisoners to get rid of their negative behavior, follow the rules and regulations inside prisons and join various reformatory programs," he added.
