A proposal being drawn up in Hawaii could see Dole Food Company trade thousands of acres of former pineapple production land for a disused prison site, website Hawaiinewsnow.com reported. 

According to the website the deal could provide the state money to build a badly needed new prison, and give dole a more strategically located site.

Dole has listed more than 15,000 acres of former pineapple fields in the north of Oahu island for sale for about US$185 million, the story reported.

Under a proposed land swap, Dole would reportedly give the state that land which the state would use to rent to farmers.

Hawaiinewsnow.com said that in exchange for receiving the old pineapple land, the state would give Dole an 11-acre community correctional center site, which is right along a rail transit line.

The state is said to have been looking at building a new jail facility to replace the current one that is out-of-date and overcrowded, but lacks the cash to do it.

The story said sources believed high-level talks were taking place amongst state officials, but it is still very much a work in progress.

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