Chief Praises Yellow Ribbon Project
Ratu Jeremaia Coriakula, of Levukaidaku Village, Matuku, Lau, yesterday praised the Yellow Ribbon Programme.
Ratu Jeremaia, who was in prison in the 1970s for manslaughter, said he wished the programme was there then.
He said it would have helped rehabilitate many inmates as they tried to rejoin their communities.
Ratu Jeremaia was speaking at the Fiji Corrections Service CARE Network workshop for ex-offenders attended by village headmen from the Lau Province. It was held at the Novotel Suva Lami Bay Convention Centre. Village headmen in Lau Province attended. They were urged to accept and help rehabilitate ex-offenders returning to their villages after serving time in prison.
Ratu Jeremaia said he was fortunate because his village welcomed him back with open arms and helped him to change. He said when he came out of prison he had gained carpentry skills which he learned while inside.
“After my imprisonment I went to my village, spent two years there with my wife and kids. I came back to Suva to work in PWD,” Ratu Jeremaia said. He thanked the Fiji Corrections Service for the CARE Network for ex-offenders to give them a second chance to improve themselves.
Village headmen in Lau Province are attending a workshop in Suva where they have been urged to accept and help rehabilitate ex-offenders returning to their villages after serving time in prison.
Ratu Jeremaia said: “After my imprisonment I went to my village and spent two years there with my wife and kids. I came back to Suva to work in PWD.” He thanked the Fiji Corrections Service for setting up the CARE Network for ex-offenders for giving them a second chance at improving themselves. Ono-i-Lau chief Waisea Davuiqalita said when ex-offenders were released their acceptance from their own village was important.
“This symposium is very important in terms of rehabilitation for our young people,” Mr Davuiqalita said.
He said the province fully supported the initiative of the symposium.
He believes that it was the responsibility of all those in the village to support ex-offenders back into the village. Deputy Commissioner of Corrections Joe Kulinidilo, in his opening address, said the objective of the symposium was to focus on the rehabilitation. “Our rehabilitation programme does not end at the gate of the prison but continues at their homes,” Mr Kulinidilo said. Mr Davuiqalita said Lau recorded the second-highest number of inmates in prisons with 118 inmates.
The youngest is 18 years old, while the oldest is 84.