The World - News from April 8, 1987

France has dropped a controversial project to set up privately run prisons and announced a new, state-funded prison building program. The privately run project, a key reform planned by Premier Jacques Chirac, was opposed by Socialist President Francois Mitterrand. “The government has decided to provide public funding for construction of new penitentiaries, which are expected to house 15,000 and to reserve for state employees the responsibilities for managing and guarding these facilities,” the Justice Ministry said. More than 50,000 people are detained in French jails, which have a capacity of 32,500, official figures show.