Old prisons to be refurbished

KAJANG: Refurbishment of old prisons and bolstering manpower in the Prisons Department are on the cards, says the Home Ministry.

Its minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail told a press conference at the Prisons Department headquarters here on Tuesday (Jan 3) that the refurbishing would involve old prisons, mainly those around the 100-year mark.

“If there is the budget for it, of course we would like to do so immediately but we have to be realistic,” he added.

The prisons on the list include the Penang Remand Prison and Perak's Kamunting prison.

He added that the government did not want to build more prisons as the ultimate goal was to reduce the number of inmates.

A lack of manpower in the department was also raised during Saifuddin's visit.

“We had direct discussions about this earlier with the director-general and we will facilitate (hiring) via the appropriate process with the Public Service Commission,” he said.

He added that filling these vacancies would increase expenditure but the ministry viewed the shortage as an important matter.