KAJANG: The Malaysian Prisons Department wants prisons to improve their image by becoming known as correctional facilities rather than penal facilities, said Home Minister Datuk Seri Hisham- muddin Tun Hussein.
“This will be part of the Prisons Department’s key performance index (KPI) which I have not officially announced yet.
“The department will continue its efforts to ensure prisoners are rehabilitated during their sentence and become useful when they are reintroduced into society,” he added.
Areas targeted for improvement, he said, would be the welfare of inmates and prison staff as well as physical infrastructure.
Hishammuddin spoke to reporters after attending a special Hari Raya prayer yesterday at Kajang Prison, which was attended by 200 inmates and recorded on video.
The prayer would be televised as part of a programme to create awareness that prisoners are in- cluded in the 1Malaysia concept.
“We must always give priority to the people. Prisoners are also our countrymen, and as such these programmes bring a deep meaning to the inmates and also to staff who care about the spiritual welfare of inmates,” Hishammuddin said in a press conference.
“We must not forget that prisoners are also a part of our ‘family’,” he said, adding that religious programmes for prisoners of other faiths were also conducted.
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