00:00On Wednesday, Justice Minister Devish Maharaj told the Senate that implementing a probation system would ease overcrowding the nation's prisons
00:10and save millions.
00:12Today, Attorney-at-law Prakash Ramada tells the morning edition that while anyone can change, careful consideration must guide the
00:21rollout of the probation system.
00:23And I have seen persons who were really, really in a bad way. All they had was hate and anger
00:30in them. And over time, you saw changes. There's always within each of the ability to revisit and to improve
00:39ourselves.
00:39So I'm all for probation, but it must be seriously monitored. And I have also seen those who could speak
00:46the finest language and give it the impression that they all rehabilitated and unleashed them into the society. So we
00:52have to be very, very careful with it.
00:54He adds that this approach would prevent the jailing of minor or first-time offenders, ultimately serving the system more
01:02efficiently.
01:02The issue of overcrowding in the prisons, we've got to deal with that. And there are persons who are there
01:09for all sorts of, you know, I don't want to call it almost insignificant offences, but non-violent offences, sometimes
01:18worn off in their entire lives, and they end up in jail and ruin the day they ever committed what
01:24they did. We need to weed those out of the hardened criminals.
01:27The debate on the bill, formally titled and act to amend the probation of offenders act, commenced in the Senate
01:35yesterday.
01:36On a separate matter, Ramadan reiterates his call for Paria Fuel Trading Company and Land and Marine Contracting Services, LMCS,
01:46to do the right thing by the families pursuing compensation for the 2022 Paria diving tragedy, which claimed five lives.
01:55There should be no issue as a liability, in my opinion. And therefore, we want them to admit it publicly.
02:02We want them to say, look, having regard to what has gone wrong, we cannot undo the past, but certainly
02:07we can make today and tomorrow better by doing what is right.
02:11He says, the legal action keeps the issue alive and emphasises that the families deserve justice for the unforgivable decision
02:21to leave the men in the pipeline while they were still alive.
02:26Nicole M. Romani, TV6 News.
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