Ministry to propose se ing up of Moral Rehabilitation Centre at state prison complex
Ministry of Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development (KWKPK) will propose to the state cabinet to construct a Moral Rehabilitation Centre (MRC) or Pusat Pemulihan Akhlak) at the state prison at the Puncak Borneo Prison Complex near here.
KUCHING: Ministry of Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development will propose to the state cabinet to construct a Moral Rehabilitation Centre (MRC) at the Puncak Borneo Prison Complex near here.
Its minister Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah said after discussing with the Sarawak Prison Department, her ministry had decided to set up the MRC at the prison to enhance the rehabilitation of drug offenders, who need family support in their struggle to overcome their addiction.
“It is a necessity to have one MRC in Sarawak, as offenders especially those convicted of drug and substance abuse are sent to Simpang Renggam in Johor or Machang in Kelantan, and it is very important they have family support system.
“I will bring this proposal to the attention of the state government to be recommended to the Home Affairs Ministry that Sarawak should have one MRC,” Fatimah told a press conference after receiving a courtesy visit from the Prison Department director, its deputy commissioner Mohamad Rosidek Musa and his staff at her office here, yesterday.
Drug offenders are detained under the Dangerous Drug Act 1959.
“If we have an MRC here, it will be a lot easier for the families of the offenders to help them with the rehabilitation. If offenders and the families are all here, they are close to each other compared to families having to travel all the way to the Peninsular Malaysia,” he said.
Touching on the rehabilitation of youths sent to the Henry Gurney School, Fatimah said that community should support them once they were released from the school.
She added her ministry was collaborating with the school in its rehabilitation programme.
“We will continue to give support to the students when they are out from the school, and I think it is very crucial for us and the community to give continuous support to help them have a sense of belonging to the community,” she said.
Of the 185 students in Henry Gurney school, 53 of them are drug and substance abusers.
“I believe they should be given a second chance, and I notice that they are talented students. We should give them the opportunities so that they would not go back to their old habit,” she said.
Fatimah disclosed that 15 students from the school are assisted by the Dyslexia Association as they could not read.
“Dyslexia Association has been assisting some of the dyslexic students since 2017 by teaching them how to read in both English and Bahasa Melayu, and it has
been successful,” she said.
Rosidek told Fatimah that the department had a plan to set up pre-school facilities at its headquarters compound for their children and also children from the surrounding area.
Responding to the proposal, Fatimah said her ministry welcomed the setting up of a pre-school at the prison headquarters complex since the federal government has set aside allocations to set up a pre-school or daycare centres at the premises of government departments in the 2021 Budget.
The ministry’s acting permanent secretary Caroline Joseph, Prison Department Sarawak Senior Assistant Commissioner Fathi Mursidi, other Prison Department Sarawak officials and Dyslexia Association president Dr Ong Phua Hoon were among those present at the press conference.
It is a necessity to have one MRC in Sarawak, as offenders especially those convicted of drug and substance abuse are sent to Simpang Renggam in Johor or Machang in Kelantan, and it is very important they have family support system. Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah