RM9 million spent on Sabah prison meals monthly
KOTA KINABALU: The State Government is spending more than RM9 million a month on meals for inmates in the prisons in Sabah which are overcrowded.
Deputy Home Minister Datuk Azis Jamman said there were about 7,800 inmates in our prisons, and the cost of keeping them there is RM41 per inmate daily.
“I was made to understand that prisons in Sabah can only accommodate about 5,000 inmates but at the moment, there are close to 7,800 inmates.
“To overcome this overpopulated inmates, we need to discuss with the ministry and the government to find a way to accommodate them in the future,” he said during his working visit to the Kota Kinabalu Prison Complex in Kepayan, on Saturday.
Also present were Malaysian Prisons Department deputy commissioner Datuk Alzafry Mohamed Alnassif Mohamed Adahan and Sabah Prisons deputy commissioner Haji Suria Haji Idris.
Meanwhile, Azis said plans had been made to build another prison in Lahad Datu.
“There is currently an ongoing project to build another prison in Lahad Datu, and I was told that the progress is about three percent and recently the government mentioned that if the project reached five percent, we will renegotiate in terms of its budget,” he said, adding that although the project was still in its infant stage, the need for additional prison was very much needed.
“We understand the monetary constrains faced by our government right now that force us to tighten on several projects, but as I have mentioned many times, we cannot compromise when it comes to security of our nation and our people.
“So I will personally bring this matter to the ministry and government for further review,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Sepanggar member of parliament said a review of the ‘special incentive payment' for civil servants would be made as it was learnt that officers and personnel of the Malaysian Prisons Department were getting RM50 less compared with other civil servants.
Azis said prison wardens were currently being paid RM150 per month while other government bodies were paid RM200 per month.
“I was told that officers and personnel of the Malaysian Prisons Department are only receiving RM150 of the special incentive payment, while other civil servants such as the police and bomba (Fire and Rescue Department) are getting RM200.
“There is a difference in payment made so we need to address this issue to ensure incentive payments to all civil servants are equal, as prison wardens also risk their lives when faced with inmates on their daily duty,” he said.Complex yesterday.