Prisoners to be Used in Reconstruction Work: South Sulawesi

When I was trekking around Java during the Soeharto regime I was astounded to see prisoners being used to clean up rivers and cities. But later when I thought about it, it was a great idea.

The prisoners can actually get away from their hellhole jails and get some fresh air as well as effectively contributing to society. The prisoners I initially saw were cleaning up the waterways and removing all the garbage that had clogged
up the drains and what was strewn near the river banks.

Some people might day it is cheap labour but the guys I saw were happy and I recall having a good chinwag with a few of them as the armed prison guards watched my every move. Yeah, as if I'd spring a prison break!.

In South Sulawesi the government plans to introduce a new program of using convict labour to rebuild houses and other structures damaged in natural disasters a minister said Saturday.
As the first stage of the new program prisoners with construction experience will be involved in rebuilding homes in Sinjai, one of the five regencies in South Sulawesi affected by recent floods, Justice and Human Rights Minister Hamid Awaluddin said.

Hamid said involving prisoners in reconstruction work would give convicts the opportunity to develop job skills that would help them once they were released while at the same time beginning the process of introducing them back into society.

The minister added that any reconstruction work performed by convicts would be taken into account when the authorities announce the annual prisoner remissions during Independence Day on Aug. 17.

During their employment in disaster areas the prisoners will be supervised by prison officials Hamid said. They will work during the day and return to their cells during the evening he said adding that the costs for the deployment of the prisoners would be covered by the Justice and Human Rights Ministry.

Hamid said only those prisoners with the necessary construction skills would be eligible for the program. In addition only those prisoners who have served the majority of their sentences and have shown good behaviour in prison will be considered for the program.

Sinjai suffered the majority of the damage in last month's flooding in South Sulawesi with up to 213 people killed and dozens more declared missing.

Prisoners involved in the reconstruction work will come from Sinjai Penitentiary.