The Ministry of Housing and Water on Friday inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Home Affairs for the Guyana Prison Service to produce 500,000 concrete blocks for the development of Silica City, along the Soesdyke-Linden Highway.
The production of the blocks will commence soon at the Lusignan Prison East Coast of Demerara, marking a significant opportunity for prisoners to earn an income.
Chief Executive Officer at the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA), Sherwyn Greaves and Director of Prisons, Nicklon Elliot signed the pact, at the Ministry of Home Affairs, Brickdam, Georgetown.
Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal emphasised that the undertaking falls under the Community-based Employment Stimulation Project (CESP), initiated by President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali, to create jobs within vulnerable communities.
“[It] is a startup and the prison is also an example where we talk about vulnerability. These are persons who will, obviously when they complete their term, be going back to their respective communities, but they will leave with a skill that they can now go back and form their own group and become entrepreneurs,” Minister Croal said.
He noted that the ministries could also collaborate on another initiative where New Amsterdam Prison can supply blocks for the housing development at Palmyra in Region Six.
Minister within the Ministry of Housing and Water, Susan Rodrigues expressed immense satisfaction with the prison reform initiatives to rehabilitate prisoners.
“This is another example of how we can innovate and use various government programmes to reform the lives of prisoners and also to stimulate the economy and employment. This is one of the flexibilities of the housing programme,” she highlighted.
Meanwhile, Minister of Home Affairs, Robeson Benn said the initiative augurs well for the government’s massive housing drive and adds to the plethora of undertakings to reform prisoners.
“The fact that we have people in prisons poses a couple of challenges in relation to their rehabilitation…Because being in prison could lead to a breakdown of families and communities for those persons…We have been looking at finding ways to have them more active,” Minister Benn noted.
Director of Prisons, Nicklon Elliot stressed that the quality of services that will be provided by the prisoners will be of the highest standards. [DPI]
