The rehabilitation programme through parole and community services has been very effective, with only one out of 800 prisoners who followed the programme returning to prison, said Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.

He said the 0.125 percentage was considered very low, compared to the 18.6 percent of those who did not follow the programme and returned to prison.

He also said one important mechanism for rehabilitation through parole and community services is providing transitional homes for parolees and former convicts - so they have a temporary place to live and for activities and classes.

“We have 14 transitional homes nationwide, we help out former (prison) inmates who are accepted back in the community and will not abandon them to the point of them returning to a life of crime,” he told a press conference yesterday.

Earlier, Saifuddin officiated the opening of the Tuaran Transitional Home at Yayasan Kebajikan Suria complex in Kampung Panjut, Berunggis, Sabah.

Also present were Prisons Department commissioner-general Nordin Muhamad and Yayasan Kebajikan Suria chairperson Raya Erom.

On the Tuaran transitional home, Saifuddin said it was the third in Sabah and can accommodate 100 male occupants.

The other two homes are located in Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan, with a 20-person capacity for female and male occupants, respectively.

- Bernama

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