This letter was copied to Opposition Leader Craig Cannonier and Commissioner of Corrections Lt Col Edward Lamb.September 23, 2012Dear Sir,There was an episode on CITV today in reference to what we once did and (can) still do to combat insects and rodents. I do believe that “Prison Labour Groups” should be formed to assist the Health Department fight a problem that we’ve had and still have locally for years … In using prison labour, this menacing problem we face fighting insects and rodents can be curbed to a great extent, (of course, they’ll never be eradicated). Doing this will help and also prevent numerous heath issues. The debris ie cans and bottles etc are all breeding grounds for insects and prisoners could/should help with cleaning bushes, beaches.Over the years I have submitted letters to our Health Ministers, the media as well as the Prison HQ to emphasise the need to utilise prison labour. There seems to be a “legal blockage” that must be changed. The “Powers That Be” should add this clause: “That all who are imprisoned for civil cases should be sentenced to a compulsory period of manual labour”. This way these individuals can work off either fines or child support at X amount of dollars per day.I do believe, in the long run this will be more economical for the public as well as the prison services that now spend over $80,000 per year supporting inmates to lay up. (Something is wrong! And only we the people can alter this ... Yes, concerned I am, and so should you be …)RAYMOND RAYSt George’sLt Col Lamb replied as follows:September 23, 2012Good day Mr Ray,Thank you your letter. As you know from our previous exchanges, we at Corrections HQ are always welcoming of ideas to utilise the talents and energies of inmates. Perhaps it would be helpful for me to point out that we currently (and have done so for a long time) utilise scores of inmates for several community and charity projects every day. Such projects include, but are not limited to:n Working with the Parks Dept for clean up of several properties/sites around the islandn Working with Works and Engineering doing roadworks and other projectsn Painting at Bermuda College, Berkeley Instituten Odd jobs at several Government schoolsn Windreachn Senior Citizen residencesn Assisting Wedco with several projects in Dockyard.These are just a few things that inmates do on a daily basis, without fuss and bother, or much publicity (for security reasons, mostly). The work of inmates in these many projects makes a significant contribution to Bermuda, and saves hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxpayer’s money. We in Corrections remain committed to not only continuing our community/charity works but, also to look for even more ways for inmates to give back to the Country. As for your specific suggestion to use inmates for insect and pest control, I would imagine that something of that nature would need specialised attention. Nonetheless, I am open to new ideas to use inmate labour.LT COL EDWARD LAMBCommissioner