Fifty-eight inmates at the Lusignan Correctional facility recently graduated from various skills training programmes such as culinary arts, electrical insulation, carpentry and joinery, according to the Department of Public Information (DPI).
Officer-in-charge, Senior Superinten-dent of Prisons, Deoraj Gyandat said this is in keeping with the mandate of the prison to equip inmates with the tools to successfully reintegrate into society upon completion of their sentences, adverting to a release from the Guyana Prison Service.
Officer-in-charge of Prisons’ Welfare and Corrections, Marielle Bristol-Grant, highlighted the importance of prisoners having skills that can be utilised to make a living upon their return to society. She commended the graduates for this accomplishment.
Meanwhile, Director of Prisons, Nicklon Elliot noted that knowledge of skills such as these requires the accompanying mindset. He reaffirmed the prison’s commitment to helping inmates learn from their mistakes and become better individuals.
In advancing this mandate, the DPI report said that the director also expressed gratitude to the Government of Guyana for its continued support in enhancing the prison service.
The government’s drive to transform the prison service from penal to correctional has seen several rehabilitative projects being implemented to reduce recidivism.
The Support for the Criminal Justice Sector Programme, for example, was launched to address overcrowding in prisons.
The programme identified community service as a method to reduce the prison population, in a system where incarceration was used as a default sanction.