Prisons Dept creates 13 satellite prisons to ease congestion

MACHANG – The Prisons Department has created 13 satellite prisons nationwide since early this year to overcome congestion.

Prisons commissioner Ajidin Salleh, the director of its inmate management division, said the satellite prisons were created using former National Service Training Programme camps, which can house 400 to 500 convicts each.

“Satellite prisons are among the initiatives taken to reduce prison congestion whereby new convicts involved in minor offences will be housed in 13 satellite prison locations, including two in Kelantan, namely in Batu Jong, Kuala Krai, and Pasir Mas.

“In addition, the satellite prisons are used as screening zones for offenders to undergo Covid-19 swab tests before being taken to the main prisons,” he said at the moral rehabilitation centre in Machang.

He said the department was not denying the fact that its prisons on the East Coast involving Kelantan and Terengganu were congested, besides also those in Sabah and the Klang Valley, which have exceeded 50% more than the stipulated capacity.

Ajidin said the department has also implemented a licensed release of prisoners programme for the early release of convicts to overcome congestion.

According to statistics, he said community rehabilitation programmes were more effective because former convicts would get help seeking employment in their respective local companies including plantations, factories, and other sectors.

“We hope those who are released early can be recruited by their previous employers or prospective employers,” he said, adding that 1,000 inmates nationwide had been freed under the programme since November last year. – Bernama, April 8, 2021