Minister of Rural Development and Local Government Khadijah Ameen has dismissed concerns that the proposed prison labour initiative could replace workers employed under the National Programme for the Upkeep of Public Spaces (NPUPS), insisting that there is sufficient maintenance work for both programmes to operate simultaneously.
Earlier this week, Minister of Homeland Security Roger Alexander announced that the Government was exploring the possibility of using prisoners sentenced to hard labour to assist with clean-up and maintenance efforts across the country.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Minister Ameen said NPUPS had already demonstrated its value through the productivity and performance of workers in communities nationwide.
She rejected suggestions that the proposed prison labour initiative would compete with NPUPS, arguing that the demand for maintenance services far exceeds the current workforce available to carry out the work.
“Listen, it have real grass to cut, you know. There is no competition. It have real grass to cut. We have proven that NPUPS works. Our NPUPS workers have shown their performance. And in various Ministries, you have a lot of Ministries who do this type of maintenance work. You have MTS in the schools, you have Ministry of Works doing the highways and those major water courses where you have same thing – workers cutting grass. So there is need to continue to have that kind of maintenance so all Ministers, we are all boots on the ground, we are all hands on deck, and it’s not a competition. It have real grass to cut.”