The Chronicle

BULAWAYO, Thursday, July 27, 1995 — The Zimbabwe Association for Crime Prevention and Rehabilitation of the Offender will soon be offering apprenticeship training in motor mechanics to prisoners, its national president, Mr Tony Berkhout, said yesterday.

He said in an interview that Zacpro had already purchased the required workshop equipment to the tune of $38 000.

He said the construction of the workshop at Whawha Prison near Gweru was almost complete.

“What is only left is the installation of the required power which we believe will be done in the forthcoming financial year,” Mr Berkhout said.

He said a maximum of 12 prisoners will be trained per single intake and the course duration is five years.

He said after their training, the prisoners will be trade tested and those who qualified would leave the prison as journeymen in motor mechanics.

Mr Berkhout, however, said the course was only for long-serving prisoners and it was for this reason that the association had decided to establish the course at Whawha where the majority of prisoners were serving long prison terms.

He said the Prison Service had already recruited two lecturers in both diesel and petrol motor mechanics to run the course.

The association, Mr Berkhout said, wanted the course to be started as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, Mr Berkhout said as a result of the drought, the association had suspended some of its income-generating projects like poultry and fish farming at Whawha.