JELEBU – The Prisons Department will build 19 drug clusters, special placements in prisons that use a drug rehabilitation programme management model, to resolve the issue of overcrowding in prisons in the country.
The deputy commissioner general of prisons (security and correctional) of the Prisons Department, Datuk Abdul Aziz Abd Razak, said that starting with the pilot project, two special placements will be built with one in Sg Buloh Prison with a capacity of 1,000 inmates and another in Kajang Prison with a capacity of 500 inmates with drug-related cases.
The government has approved the construction of these drug clusters in the 12th Malaysia Plan. Under the project, the prison authorities will place all prisoners with drug offences that need to undergo intensive rehabilitation in drug clusters.
“Drug offences in prisons involve 60% of all prisoners in the country, a major factor for overcrowding in prisons. The construction of these drug clusters can also increase the effectiveness of rehabilitation among drug-related prisoners,” Aziz told reporters after the launch of the Community Therapeutic Centre at the Jelebu Drug Rehabilitation Institution here today.
He said prisoners would undergo drug rehabilitation programmes at the special placements throughout their time in jail as sentenced by the court. – Bernama, November 16, 2021
