St. JOHN’S, Antigua, Jan. 17, CMC – In a bid to reduce overcrowding at Her Majesty’s Prison (HMP), the government has promised to release approximately 100 prisoners by mid-February.
According to National Security Minister Steadroy ‘Cutie’ Benjamin, convicts who will be released early from the island’s lone prison, will be placed on work programmes, designed to equip them with skills to make them employable.
“Under the Convicts License Act, a number of prisoners will be released, and under the Criminal Amendment Act and the Prison Extramural Sentencing Act about 41 more will be released. We hope that by the middle of February at least 100 prisoners will be set free in this particular manner,” Benjamin said.
Once released, most of them will head to the prison farm to do farming. Others will be given specific training in welding, carpentry and plumbing, “so they could become useful citizens in Antigua,” he said.
“We believe that if persons are given skills, then the propensity to commit crime will be decreased, and that’s why we are saying we’ll give them skills as plumbers, masons, carpenters, farmers so they will not be influenced to commit crime, but will actually make a contribution to society.”
Currently there are 399 people incarcerated at prison, which was originally built to accommodate 150 inmates.
