“This is an opportunity to get your life back on track” – Persaud tells parolees
Human Services and Social Security Minister, Dr Vindhya Persaud on Wednesday told a group of parolees that they should reach out to young people and others who may be involved in questionable activities to influence them to desist from lives of crime.
Human Services and Social Security Minister, Dr Vindhya Persaud and Director of Social Services, Wentworth Tanner addressing the parolees on Wednesday
She made these remarks at an event organised by the Probation Department of the Human Services and Social Security Ministry and Guyana Prison Service with the aim of encouraging those who have been granted parole.
The activity was held under the theme, “Revealing Our Fathers – Eliminating Stigma and Discrimination.” The parolees were offered words of encouragement, along with Father’s Day care packages.
The Minister urged them to be a force for good in the lives of youths and to encourage them to turn their lives around. She reminded them that many children live with “absentee” fathers and their own children had to suffer their absence, because they did not think of their families when they engaged in unlawful acts.
Dr Persaud admonished the parolees not to go back down the same road of wrongdoing again. She also directed them to training that is available to them, and urged that they find themselves in stable working environments.
The participants were taken from Regions Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), Four (Demerara-Mahaica), Five (Mahaica-Berbice), and Six (East Berbice-Corentyne).
Officers at the prisons have observed that owing to the absence of fathers in the home, single parenting is a reality in Guyana, and further, many homes become dysfunctional as a result of parental involvement with the criminal justice system.
It is in this regard that the Prison After Care and Reintegration Services Section decided to host the activity. The section has pledged to continue to make positive impacts on the lives of the parolees, who will, in turn, make a positive impact on their families, children, and society. The event was held in observance of Father’s Day, which will be observed on Sunday.
