25 Feb 2015

Fiji inmates to be upskilled

1:55 pm on 25 February 2015

The Fiji Corrections Service is planning on expanding its programme to upskill inmates, in areas of sheep farming and pine planting, to bee keeping and ginger farming.

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Photo: RNZ / Diego Opatowski

The assistant commissioner of prisons, Viliame Bulewa, says the commercial enterprise projects help inmates secure jobs, integrate back into society and contribute to the economy when released.

Mr Bulewa says the programme has so far been successful, with the majority of inmates upskilled while in prison doing well on the outside.

"There's an obligation for the Fiji Correction Service to ensure we train them, we upskill them, we put them back on track and ensure when they leave the Fiji Correction Service they become a law abiding citizen, someone who can contribute positively to the economy of the nation, and in doing so we are contributing to a safer Fiji."

Viliame Bulewa says inmates receive 60 percent of the revenue made from the projects, which they get when they leave prison.