Darrell's Island drug retreat, Camp Spirit, is to re-open in January on a year-round basis, National Drugs Commission (NDC) Chairman Malcolm Butterfield said yesterday.

The camp, which closed in April, was taken over by The NDCin May from counselling service Focus with the promise to re-open it in October.

Mr. Butterfield said yesterday the retreat will open on January 6 and will not shut down during the summer when campers took over the site.

Recently, Acting Senior Magistrate Carlisle Greaves publicly lamented its closure and said it was vital for hard core drug addicts to get away from temptation on the mainland.

Two internationally qualified professional addiction counsellors from overseas will work with a similarly qualified local person alongside three entry level counsellors who will be trained up to take over.

Costing $350,000 to $500,000 a year to run, the new Camp Spirit will take 14 male addicts, but Mr. Butterfield said he hoped it could be expanded to take more.

Mr. Butterfield said the camp was a vital part of the Alternatives To Incarceration initiative and Drug Court which gives offenders breaks on sentencing if they commit to rehabilitation.

He said: "I would suspect on day one we will probably be full with a very large percentage of clients coming from the Drug Court."

He said the camp was still open to self-referred clients if there was room.

NDC Acting Chief Executive Officer Don Q. Philip said clients would still attend Camp Spirit for three month spells but the year-round opening would now allow continuation during the summer for those who had relapsed.

Asked what had been done during the eight month shut-down Mr. Butterfield said: "We have had a lot of meetings. We have looked at staffing and location."

Asked what had changed with staffing Mr. Butterfield said: "I don't know what staffing was but I can tell you we have enough staff on board to keep it going 12 months, 24 hours a day and we have commitment from other people to make it work so we are never going to be without coverage.

"We spent a lot of time establishing clear accountability of service and finances which is important to donors."

However the future control of the programme remains up in the air.

Mr Butterfield said: "The NDC does not wish to be in the business of running agencies but we do have a responsibility to staff them when there are problems like with Camp Spirit.

"We hope in the fullness of time we can separate ourselves from Camp Spirit."

He said the programme could go back to Focus who had been involved with the new Camp Spirit committee or be run independently.

He said the NDC was still working on Focus. "We are having meetings with their chairman and their staff to re-evaluate that facility as well," he said.

Mr. Butterfield refused to answer questions on the funding of Focus but said the Council Partners was withholding the 50 percent it used to donate.

Asked why Camp Spirit had not been running in October Mr. Butterfield said: "We were simply not ready. I withdrew from that date.

"When you open up a facility that's been closed since the Spring you have to freshen it up and get supplies over there and furniture and orientate the staff and make sure it will not close again.

"October just did not work as a staffing target."