Government saves 33 million meticais through food production in jails

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Government saves 33 million meticais through food production in jails

2:45 CAT | 19 Jul 2018

Photo: Notícias

The Government has saved more than 33.4 million meticais thanks to the implementation of a programme transforming penitentiary establishments into food production centres.

In fact, according to the Minister of Justice, Constitutional and Religious Affairs, Joaquim Veríssimo, the programme is now a reality in all penitentiary units and open detention centres.

“In these places, we recorded the production of cereals, vegetables, legumes, poultry, eggs, cattle and goats which in total saved the state about 33,373,918.50 meticais,” Veríssimo said, quoted by AIM.

The minister was speaking in Maputo yesterday at the opening of a symposium held under the motto “Application of the Mandela Rules: the Road to Improving Correctional Services and Penitentiaries in Africa”, which is promoting the implementation of minimum rules for treatment of prisoners known as “Mandela Rules”.

Veríssimo said that the measure, which is included in the government’s 2015-2019 Five-Year Programme, prioritises the improvement of conditions in penitentiaries, with an emphasis on diet, health care, and the implementation of alternative to prison sentences.

In the context of alternative sentences aimed at tackling the problem of prison overcrowding, the government has been building penitentiary establishments, rehabilitating prison blocks, and conducting trial campaigns to speed up procedures, the minister said.

“Since the beginning of implementation, alternative sentences have allowed the sentencing of 1,010 citizens, 502 of whom have already served their terms,” he said.

Mozambique has about 20,037 prisoners nationwide, and the symposium preceded today’s launch of Africa Prisons Day, which was in the past celebrated on 26 September but has now been moved to July 18 in honour of late South African President and Nobel Peace Prize winner Nelson Mandela, who spent decades in prison under the apartheid regime.

The one-day symposium discussed topics such as the dignity of prisoners as human beings; prisoners’ health and health care; access to legal representation and speedy trial and the training of personnel.

The event is organised by the National Penitentiary Service (SERNAP) in its functions as chair of African Correctional Services Association (ACSA) and in coordination with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Source: Notícias