6 March 2008
Maputo — Inmates involved in productive activities in Mozambican prisons are to be remunerated for their work as part of their social rehabilitation and professional training.
Speaking after a visit to the Ndlavela women's prison, in the southern city of Matola, Justice Minister Esperanca Machavela told reporters that "payment for the prisoners will motivate them to get more involved in the production process and will help prisons be more self-sufficient".
Inmates in Ndlavela are involved in activities such as vegetable and poultry production, sewing, and weaving. The latter activity has just begun and employs 15 of the inmates.
Weaving in Ndlavela and in two other prisons (in Maputo and Nampula) will be undertaken in a commercial manner, and to this end, the government has imported equipment from Ethiopia, worth 1.5 million meticais (about 60,000 US dollars).
Machavela recommended that prisons' infrastructures be put to good use, and she promised to pay another visit within a month to see the results.
Unlike other prisons, that are often overcrowded, the Ndlavela prison, with a capacity for 350 inmates, currently only holds 103 prisoners.
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