Investing on convicts pays

JAKARTA (JP): People with money to spare might want to consider an offer from Central Java Governor Soewardi -- invest in a business run within the confines of prison facilities.

Soewardi made the proposal after inspecting the quality of some of the handicrafts made by inmates of the Kedungpane Correctional Institution in Semarang.

The governor said that private investors will be allowed to invest in the businesses and provide convicts with the training to acquire the necessary skills, he was quoted by the Antara news agency as saying.

He said the prison authorities should define the kind of businesses that would be allowed and should make sure that they do not hamper the rehabilitation program of the convicts. (emb)