Ministry, Prisons Dept have adopted long-term measures to reduce overcrowding in prisons, says Dep Home Minister

KUALA LUMPUR: An Umno lawmaker has asked the government to reveal its long-term plans to address the issue of overcrowding in prisons, after a visit by popular religious preacher Ebit Lew at one of the prisons.

Datuk Salim Sharif (BN-Jempol) noted that the standard operating procedures in prisons have been tightened and authorities had imposed a lockdown at living quarters which had positive cases of Covid-19.

"I want to ask, independent preacher Ebit Lew had visited a prison and commented that our prison is overcrowded and not comfortable as per the norm.

"What are the steps taken by the Home Ministry and as a sustainable plan for the Prisons Department, and not for the short term, but long term measures, to reduce overcrowding at prison institutions across the country in order to the curb the spread of Covid-19 pandemic," he said during Question Time on Tuesday (Nov 3).

In October, the Prisons Department had urged all parties not to politicise the visit made by Ebit Lew who came to assist those under Covid-19 quarantine.

The department clarified that the cooperation between it and the non-governmental organisation or individuals for charity purposes were a norm.

In response, Deputy Home Minister Jonathan Yasin said based on the Prison Department statistics, it is holding a total of 66,791 inmates placed under 39 prison institutions across the country compared to its capacity of a total of 46,420 inmates as of Oct 19 this year.

"As of Nov 2, the number of positive Covid-19 cases among inmates across the country stood at 1,156 cases while a total of 83 cases were recorded among prison staff and family members," he said.

He added that the Prisons Department had adopted all the necessary standard operating procedures set by the Health Ministry to curb the spread of Covid-19 infections within prison institutions.

"The Home Ministry and the Prisons Department had taken several initiatives to reduce overcrowding including to empower the parole system, Offender's Compulsory Attendance, and continuous integration with industry programmes and smart partnership programmes.

"For the status of Covid-19 cases, based on the figure given by the Prisons Department, the total number of positive cases among inmates are showing a declining trend within a period of two weeks.

"At the same time, the Prisons Department had further strenthened the implementation of SOPs with the cooperation with the Health Ministry," he said.

Asked to reveal the number of cases in the Kajang Prison after the government imposed an enhanced movement control order, Jonathan said as of Nov 2, there are only two cases there.