The home minister says the new facility should help ease overcrowding at Tawau and Kota Kinabalu prisons.
Home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail and works minister Alexander Nanta Linggi looking at a display of the progress of the Lahad Datu prison.
He hoped the new facility, which would be able to accommodate 1,000 inmates, would help reduce overcrowding at the Tawau and Kota Kinabalu prisons. “This additional 1,000 capacity will help the prisons department to address overcrowding issues, which can lead to problems like transmission of infectious diseases and unconducive conditions that distress inmates and result in suicide, escape attempts or fights,” he said.
Saifuddin said the prisons department had also implemented release on parole and compulsory attendance orders to reduce prison overcrowding.