Recreation is key to corrections process

Liberia’s Assistant Justice Minister for Correction and Rehabilitation, Eddie S. Tarawali stands with correction officers and inmates at the Monrovia Central Prison (South Beach).

Liberia’s Assistant Justice Minister for Corrections and Rehabilitations, Eddie S. Tarawali, says recreational activities are important to corrections as prisoners at the Monrovia Central Prison (South Beach) begin week and a half sports recreation activities.

Speaking yesterday during the official kick-off of the league, Assistant Justice Tarawali notes that recreations in any prison facility are very important.

He says those kinds of interactions among prisoners will help reduce their stress level and make them feel a part of society despite the actions that led them to prison.

“So for us who believe in humanity, we think it is important to reintroduce and incubate the process where the young people at various prisons will have such a program”, he adds.

According to the youthful Assistant Minister, as part of the prison management, recreational activities make those who have gone for corrections due to ill habits in society to realize the true meaning of corrections.

Tarawali promises that he and his team of correction officers will ensure that those activities are frequently held in all of the prison facilities in Liberia.

“Again, over the period of time, it has been speculated that people who are considered as inmates are also considered social dropouts as a result of the social dropout conditions, society has stigmatized them as well as the prison facility, we have come to demystify that”, Minister Tarawali says.

During the kick-off of the bloc league at the South Beach, the Correction Minister told the inmates that they as policy makers will ensure that the right conditions are provided for inmates to known the real reasons of going to jail.

“When you leave from here, you need to leave with skills in you so that you can contribute to the development of Liberia and form part of Liberia’s generation of leaders you came here [with] for corrections”.

Speaking earlier, the Superintendent of the South Beach Prison, Varney Lake says the league forms part of their work to see how best they can have unity among their workforce and inmates.

He explains that male inmates and correction officers will play among themselves while female correction officers and female inmates will have a showcase as well.

According to Mr. Lake, they are expected to extend the league to other prisons in the country, something he said is in the best interest of the work they do as correction officers.

Prisoners from blocs spied through tiny windows to get a look at their colleagues who were allowed during the kickoff of the games.

-Editing by Jonathan Browne