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  • 2 days ago
Homeland Security Minister Roger Alexander's call for prisoners to perform hard labour is drawing a response from the Head of the Prison Officers Association. Gerard Gordon says inmates have long been engaged in work programmes, but cautions that legal, medical and security requirements significantly limit the number of prisoners eligible to work, particularly outside prison walls.
Transcript
00:00Head of the Prison Officers Association, Jared Gordon, says hard labor has always been implemented in the prison system.
00:06Speaking with TV6 News and referencing Homeland Security Minister Roger Alexander's statement
00:12that the prisons are the nation's largest labor force and prisoners ought to be made to do hard labor,
00:18such as grass cutting and community upkeep, Gordon says there are many factors to consider.
00:23He tells us, quote,
00:24Most of the prison population is remanded, so saying that is a misnomer.
00:29We do not have a large population of those who can work, end quote.
00:33Gordon explained that three-quarter of the prison population are on remand,
00:38and he says not all of the other quarter have been sentenced to hard labor.
00:43He said, quote,
00:44If we have 12 to 1,300 convicted persons remaining, you will have to take out the old who cannot
00:50work and the condemned, end quote.
00:53He explained that some of that remaining quarter have been sentenced to simple imprisonment,
00:58and others have to be assessed medically to ensure they are physically fit.
01:02Additionally, Gordon said, quote,
01:04To work outside the prison requires certain parameters.
01:07They must serve three-fifths of their prison sentence before they can work outside,
01:12and they must be interviewed.
01:14A risk assessment and threat assessment must be done, end quote.
01:17As it stands, Gordon says there are about two teams who meet that threshold to go out in small numbers.
01:24He described the minister's intentions as good.
01:27But the prison also has a mandate, he says, to keep prisoners in safe custody.
01:32Generally, he says, all individuals who meet various criteria generally are working either in the ration room,
01:40bakery, animal husbandry, maintenance, construction, grass cutting, milking cows, plumbing, or air conditioning.
01:47Gordon added, quote,
01:49If the question is about whether it is hard labor, that is subjective, and we do the best with what
01:54we have, end quote.
01:56Gordon says those sentence with substance abuse issues cannot work immediately.
02:01He also called on authorities to revisit the system of paying prisoners for the labor they do.
02:07Ravishit Mwari Ruknarein, TV6 News.
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