A total of 20 out of 37 prisons in the country are overcrowded, Home Ministry deputy secretary-general of security Nadzri Siron said today.

According to Nadzri, the most crowded was the Pengkalan Chepa Prison, with more than 2,900 inmates, when its capacity was only for 1,500 prisoners.

He said this to reporters after opening the 'Message from Prisons' programme at Dewan Keusahawanan Universiti Malaysia Kelantan in Kota Bharu today.

Also present were Kelantan police chief Hasanuddin Hassan, Prisons Department director-general Zulkifli Omar, Kelantan Prisons director Hamzani Che Berahim, Kelantan Crime Prevention Foundation chair Abd Aziz Nawi and UMK deputy vice-chancellor Zaliman Sauli.

Nadzri said efforts were being made, including requesting for allocation, to improve the prison condition, as well as to build a new building to overcome overcrowding in prisons.

“Newer prisons such as the Sungai Buloh Prison and Kajang Prison in Selangor as well as the Sungai Udang Prison in Malacca do not experience overcrowding, as they were built based on the cell concept,” he said.

He also said that several programmes were being implemented to reduce overcrowding in prisons, such as the Community Rehabilitation Programme (CRP) at six army camps, including at Desa Pahlawan Camp in Kota Bharu and Gemas Camp in Negeri Sembilan for inmates to carry out activities outside of the prison.

- Bernama