Suhakam report prompts govt to build four new prisons
The government will be building four more new prisons in the next two years to address the problem of prison overcrowding, deputy home minister Chor Chee Heung said today.
He said the move was in response to a Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) report which called for an alleviation of crowded prison conditions in the country and the segregation of juvenile offenders.
The four new prisons, three in Peninsular Malaysia and one in Sarawak, when completed will be able to accommodate at least 6,300 prisoners, said Chor, who was at Kajang prison this morning to officiate a Chinese New Year gathering for inmates.
Two of the prisons will be ready by the end of the year and the other two by 2004. We predict that by next year, we should be able to reduce overcrowding to an optimal level, said Chor.
According to the deputy minister, there are currently 27,583 prisoners in the country placed in prisons with an optimal capacity of 23,914 prisoners. This showed an overcrowding rate of 15 percent in the facilities.
On the whole, the situation is still controllable for a temporary period. The project to build prisons in various parts of the country will reduce the problem by 2003, he added.
Chor said crowded prison conditions were due to several factors, one of which was the high number of remand prisoners awaiting trial.
There are now more than 8,667 remand prisoners, representing 31.4 percent of the prison population, he said, adding that co-operation of other parties such as the police and the courts would be required to shorten remand time and reduce the number of these detainees.
Another 5,042 prisoners are foreign nationals, he added.
Basic pay increase
Chor also said the government is working to segregate various groups of prisoners depending on the severity of their crimes in order to create a more effective penal system.
We plan to place (remand prisoners) in more suitable prisons, he said.
He added the government would construct four detention centres for juvenile offenders (those under 18); one each in Sabah, Sarawak and two in Melaka. One of the centres in Melaka will cater for female juvenile delinquents.
When asked, Chor said that based on studies, about 10 to 15 percent of former prisoners return to jail for the same or different crimes.
This is not a frightening figure. Nevertheless, the prison department has been given the responsibility to make sure that less than that figure, if any at all, come back (into prison), he said.
Chor also announced that the government is considering the prison departments request for an increase in remuneration for prison staff.
Their basic pay may be increased to a level that is the same as other uniformed officials, he said, adding that new regulations may also require that new recruits hold at least an SPM qualification.
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