Transport Ministry weighs possibility of using prison labourers to help in road and highway construction

The Transport Ministry has raised eyebrows after it was revealed this week it might use non-punitive prison labour on highway and road construction to help curb costs. So far, the ministry is keeping quiet about the exact details but the Justice Minister Jiří Pospíšil was more candid, saying the idea of prisoners helping build the country’s throughways was indeed being considered.

Vít Bárta

The concept of prison labour in road construction is nothing new, used in Communist Czechoslovakia but never in the Czech Republic – one reason some were taken aback this week when it was confirmed that the Transport Ministry was considering bringing prison labour on Czech roads back – in part to bring down highway construction costs. Here’s what Transport Minister Vít Bárta said earlier this week: “I can tell you regarding this idea that we conducted a little winter experiment at Christmas, but I’m afraid I can’t say more yet. We will make more details available next week.”

Photo: Kristýna Maková, Czech Radio

By contrast, the head of the Justice Ministry, Jiří Pospíšil, was more forthcoming, saying that currently new options on employing prisoners from Czech penitentiaries were being considered and that a pilot programme was being put together. The Justice Minister:

“We are looking for new means of employing prisoners from Czech jails and one of the possibilities is cooperation with the Transport Ministry. Our economists are crunching the numbers now to see how advantageous such a project would be.”

Potential problems remain which could arguably jettison the plan from Day One. For one, already some in the construction business are far from thrilled by the idea. The president of the Czech Association of Construction Entrepreneurs, Václav Matyáš, for example, appeared honestly taken aback, saying he couldn’t imagine how the project would work. According to sources in the construction business, there are already some 30,000 people the field who are currently out of work. And that begs the next question: even if used, how useful would the use of prisoners be? Physical labour in road work is one thing, but skilled workers, able to handle heavy machinery, are required more and that is a profile most prisoners wouldn’t fit.

Finally, perhaps the most serious hurdle is the fact that international law bans private firms from using prison labour and it is private firms that are used to extend or build the country’s throughways. How those issues will be resolved at this point are unclear and a final decision is far off.