Correctional Services suggests that medical equipment be made by inmates to reduce the Hospital Authority's expenses
Prison chiefs are considering setting up a factory at Hei Ling Chau jail where inmates would be taught to make surgical masks for public hospitals.
Correctional Services officers will brief Hospital Authority officials next month on the proposal.
It is expected it could cut the authority's expenses as inmates could produce the three-ply masks for 10 cents to 30 cents each. The masks retail for about $1.
Daniel Hui Tak-fuk, Correctional Services Industries' general manager, said that if the authority accepted the proposal, a germ-free factory would be set up in December to start production in January.
Mr Hui said the idea stemmed from the Sars outbreak. 'People were concerned about the supply of surgical masks during the Sars outbreak,' he said.
