Thursday, November 23, 2006 BJMP approves hiring of inmates for work at SRP
THE Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) has approved the hiring of 180 inmates to work at the South Road Properties (SRP).
Officials, however, are still awaiting guidelines before the hiring can start.
Bagong Buhay Rehabilitation Center (BBRC) jail warden Efren Nemeño said the BJMP central office already approved “in principle” Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña’s plan to have the inmates work for City Hall.
The plan, however, still has to be referred to the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) central office so it can draft guidelines on the implementation of the project.
1st of its kind
“In principle, the mayor’s proposal has already been approved by the BJMP central office but we cannot start to implement it without the guidelines because this is the first of its kind and magnitude that an LGU has initiated a project with BJMP,” Nemeño told Sun.Star Cebu.
Osmeña plans to hire the services of some “low risk” inmates to make sandbags at the SRP to be used for the construction of the roads there. He wants those inmates who have a few months left at the BBRC to work so they can earn a living before they return to their families.
Also, the mayor believes the program will help decongest the jail facility during the day since some of the inmates will be working at the SRP.
Nemeño said they have already identified 180 inmates who can participate in the program.
Rehabilitation
While the jail will be decongested during the day, the warden believes the biggest impact of the program will be on the inmates’ rehabilitation and livelihood.
“Instead of having so much idle time while they are in prison, they will become productive individuals and they will have an income even before they are released,” Nemeño said.
Meanwhile, the warden is optimistic they will be able to resolve the problem on the water supply at the new city jail in Barangay Kalunasan before their transfer on Nov. 30.
BBRC, he said, can either tap the water source of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center or have private water tankers deliver water there.
Nemeño said he will just wait for the recommendation of the Cebu City Police Coordinating and Advisory Council (PCAC) this Friday.
“There are several options available but we will just wait for PCAC’s decision on the matter. But we will not be able to transfer if there is no water supply because definitely, it will be chaotic inside the jail,” he added. (LCR)
