Teach idle hands to become constructive

FOOD is at a premium at the moment with many people out of work and families battling to make ends meet.

Everyone is being encouraged to grow their own food with many organisations and schools teaching gogos and children how to grow vegetables and fruit, not just for their own tables, but also to sell.

In the Zululand Observer of 5 December there was a story of a gogo trying to do just this, and finding a piece of land which she thought was available, she started her vegetable garden. Unfortunately the land was not hers to use and Cllr Palmer stepped in to help her (‘Veggie patch creates a stir’).

But in the middle of Empangeni there is a large tract of land, one that was used for years to grow the most beautiful vegetables and fruit, which is now completely overgrown with weeds and dumped rubbish where vagrants and other undesirables spend their time.

It’s the land belonging to the Empangeni Prison. What a waste! Why are the petty criminals housed at Empangeni Prison not being taught how to grow and maintain a vegetable garden?

Give them something to do other than languishing at leisure in the jail at taxpayers’ cost, doing nothing, learning nothing and achieving nothing.

What a waste of government land, prisoners’ time and our money. Give them something to do, teach them a skill, give them the ability to do something constructive when they leave prison, other than learning more illegal activities from other idle hands and minds.

Come on Department of Correctional Services, make the effort to appoint a few prison wardens to oversee the Empangeni Prison gardens and teach prisoners to grow their own food, feeding the other inmates and perhaps even having some of the fine vegetables and fruit made available to the public to buy or donated to orphanages or other needy people.

PATRICIA VAN EIJK