May 17, 2012Dear Sir,In a letter to you, the Commissioner of Corrections and the Premier, which was published on January 21, 2012, I suggested areas and ways to cut the cost of keeping a prisoner. I am pleased to see that the Minister of Justice, Senator Kim Wilson has announced proposals to cut costs in some of the suggested areas. The purchasing of footwear and underwear after the initial prison issue by prisoners will be and could have been a great saving if it had not been stopped years ago. Prisoners will take more care and concern for items purchased by themselves and their families. I would be very interested to see how much it will save after three years. Just to remind the Senator of other areas suggested to save money, they were to outsource the farming, cut teachers of subjects that will not benefit prisoners after release, bring the Officer Training officers down to the officers’ rank instead of being top-heavy (basic staff cannot get it right nor feel part of the big picture if they do not assist in the training) and tighten up on excessive sick leave, annual leave and overtime.I am still asking if the retired officers who have been rehired are paying into the pension fund, and if not, why not? Also, are they placed in areas to help to train younger officers and not in cushy positions?We will be watching to see how far Senator Wilson’s proposals go.GERALD L BEANPaget