24 November 2012 - Finding careers for prison inmates was vital in combatting crime and developing South Sudan, Lakes State Director of Prisons said today in Rumbek.

Some 90 per cent of inmates in the state were youth and theft was the most commonly committed crime, Director Bol Ador Ader said. "These youth lack careers. As a result, they keep on committing crimes and are prone to criminality."

"If we can create vocational centers within the prison for inmates across the country, we will not just be fighting crime but also improving manpower development and stopping our youth from being vulnerable," he added.

Director Ader was speaking as a team of prison officers, UNMISS Corrections Advisors and Guarantee Prisoners (those about to be freed) began harvesting 100 hectares of sorghum and maize at Rumbek Central Prison.

Agriculture was currently the state's only means of rehabilitating inmates, but would fail to benefit those without land to farm, Mr. Ader said. "Give (them) training in electricity, masonry, carpentry and so on. (They) will be better off tomorrow."

This year's harvest was low due to lack of rain, but maize and sorghum would go a long way toward feeding inmates, the director said. He called on the national government to provide tractors and other needed materials for a good harvest next season.

With that kind of harvest, the prison system's six farms could feed Lakes State in general, Mr. Ader said.

Two inmates who had participated in the farming also stressed the need for inmate vocational training, so they could find employment once they were free.