18 months after Yellowknife jailbreak, construction finally begins on security fix

More than 18 months after an inmate escaped from the North Slave Correctional Complexin Yellowknife, and following multiple unsuccessful tenders, construction has finally begun on a security solution.

A spokesperson from the N.W.T.'s Department of Justice confirmed that construction began Monday at the jail, withClark Builders tapped to complete the project.

The security flaws were first exposed in August of 2016, when inmate Denecho King exploited a "pre-existing"gap to escape from the jail, climbing onto the facility's roof from the courtyard before escaping.A three-day manhunt followed before King was apprehended. He's currently on trial for charges of murder and attempted murder.

• Denecho King exploited 'pre-existing' gap to escape from Yellowknife jail

Following the jailbreak, territorial Justice Minister Louis Sebertannounced that security upgrades would be done at the jail to address the gap in security. In the meantime, the courtyard was closed to inmates, a situation that contributedto an "unprecedented" letter-writing campaign after more thana year of non-access.

However, the department's preferred solution turned out to be "a more complex and expensive matter than we anticipated," Sebert said in the Legislative Assembly in 2017, resulting in delays in awarding the contract.

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• Inmates at Yellowknife jail undertake 'unprecedented' letter-writing campaign pleading for more resources

The construction tender for the fix went up several times, according to a written response by Sebert. Each time, the department was unable to find someone who could complete the repair to the department's specification and within their budget, requiring the department to go back to the drawing board to find a less expensive solution.

"The department has gone through several iterations of the design of the security solution," said Justice spokesperson NganTrinh, who said that the redesigns were "due to construction and structural issues" and"resulted in construction estimates exceeding the department's allocated funding for the project."

Trinh would not give details on the design, citing security concerns.

The project is expected to be completed in eightto 10 weeks.