Govt to pay for minor offenders

Atapattu Bandara

Minor offenders who cannot pay their fines will be released at the expense of the government. They will be employed in development activities in the country, said Rehabilitation and Prison Development Minister Chandrasiri Gajadheera.

The programme will be initiated on a concept of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Prisons will be renamed Rehabilitation Centres, he added.

The Minister revealed these at a ceremony held to inaugurate construction work of the Pannei Prison complex in Jaffna.

He said around 1,600 prison inmates convicted of minor offences will be released in line with National Independence Day. Refurbishment of the Jaffna prison will be expedited. The prison houses over 400 inmates in four buildings taken over by the Prison Department on a rental basis.

The new prison complex is constructed on a 2.5 acre land of the Prison Department at a cost of Rs 583 million. Construction work will be completed by the end of next year, he said.