By Emmanuel Mafelah,mafelahemmanuel29@gmail.com
GBARNGA, Liberia- In an effort to support national government alleviate hunger in prison facilities across the country, inmates at the Gbarnga Central Prison in central Liberia have embarked on an agriculture activity, the prison Superintendent Saydu B.I. Kuyateh has disclosed.
Gbarnga is more than 198 kilometers from Monrovia.
Addressing journalists about the initiative in recently, Mr. Kuyateh said the farming is starting on a land area of about 35 acres, hoping that come, next year, the prison in central Bong County will be able to feed its inmates.
Superintendent Kuyateh named crops like cassava; eddoes plantains, banana and potato green as their area of focus.
“We are mainly focusing on these crops because inmate at our prison facility here are being feed by these local food on the daily basic,” Prison Superintendent Kuyateh added.
The Gbarnga Central Prison boss further assured Communities dwellers of the county, “adding our people will benefit from this farm because the farm in question is very large that our inmate at the center can’t eat all the produce at the prison”.
According to him, the agriculture project is under the Ministry of Justice rehabilitation Program.
“The process Oslo meant to help our inmate acquire new ideas and skills so that whenever they leave prison can be able to live on the skill acquired and contribute to the growth and development of their Country,” Mr. Kuyateh explained.
The Gbarnga Central Prison Superintendent also said that the agriculture activity is intended to support President George M. Weah’s Pro-Poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development.
This farm will greatly help the government in solving some of the challenges they face with in feeding inmate in prison across the country, he said.
Superintendent Kuyateh also informed Journalists that the prison administration has so far spent one hundred fifty thousand Liberian Dollars ($150,000) and one hundred and ten United States Dollars ($110.00) from their own pocket.
“When I took over as Superintendent of the Gbarnga Central Prison in December 9, 2019, I met alot of challenges reaching from water shortages, but through our effort a local non-governmental organization called Hope International were able to rehabilitated one of our hand pumps,” Mr. Kuyateh noted.