Inmates produce rose cologne amid virus outbreak

ISPARTA

AA Photo

Prison inmates in the Central Anatolian province of Isparta, famous for its rose, are producing 130 tons of rose cologne every month in the facility’s cosmetic workshop.

Products from the workshop, which has been open for nearly two years, are sold all over Turkey, while convicts and detainees also earn income from production.

Prison warden Ünal Şaşmaz said that workshops were opened in order to integrate the prisoners back into society, for them to find jobs relatively easier and not to return to penal institutions.

Noting that the inmates earned an average of 600 liras ($92) per month in the workshop, Şaşmaz said that the insurance of the working inmates was also paid.

Emphasizing that the demands have increased due to the new type of coronavirus epidemic, he said that if needed, the production can be up to 260 tons per month with a double shift working order.

Şaşmaz explained that they produced rose marshmallows as well as rose cologne in prison.

Isparta province flourishes with roses and rose products.