Prisoners sentenced to hard labour could soon be used to assist with community clean-up efforts across Trinidad and Tobago.
The proposal comes from Minister of Homeland Security and Member of Parliament for Tunapuna, Roger Alexander, who says the country’s prison population represents an underutilised labour force.
“We have the biggest, one of the largest labour force at the nation’s prisons, and we really don’t utilise them properly.”
Minister Alexander explained more about the programme: “We are going to reintroduce where persons who have been charged and convicted by a court and is sentenced to hard labour, we are going to reintroduce those persons to come back out in the streets and help with the clean-up process.”
The Homeland Security Minister said the current system does not always reflect the intent of a hard labour sentence, adding that meaningful work could also help with rehabilitation and reintegration into society.
“If you are convicted and 12 months or two years hard labour, you know what is hard labour in the jail right now? A man smoking, a man is on his phone, internet and all these things. That’s not hard labour. And if someone is smart and is on the inside, he could use that process to start to reintegrate himself back into the public. Let the public see, listen, that fellow out there, he’s hard working. And it is happening right now to some people.”
Minister Alexander said allowing inmates to participate in productive activities could help change public perceptions while giving offenders an opportunity to demonstrate responsibility.
He made the comments while speaking to journalists during a clean-up initiative in the Tunapuna area on Tuesday.