KAJANG: First-time offenders and those punished with light sentences can avoid prison sentences and instead do community work and other means of rehabilitation.
This would benefit them and society at large thanks to the approval of the Offenders Compulsory Attendance (Amendment) Act 2022 here earlier today (Oct 11).
Prisons Department Commissioner General, Datuk Nordin Muhamad, said they were grateful to caretaker Home Minister Datuk Hamzah Zainudin and the Home Ministry for the amended Act.
He said this was particularly so as the department had been operating above its capacity where prisoners were concerned.
Nordin said the provision will enable the department to address overcrowding in prisons across the country, while achieving a better success rate in rehabilitating offenders and ensuring that they do not end up back in prison.
"For every 118 families, there is one prisoner behind bars. The incarceration rate stands at about 250 in prison for every 100,000 people.
"At present, there are 82,500 prisoners with around 77,000 of them incarcerated in prisons across the country. However, the maximum capacity for incarceration is only 65,000.
"So, we are 17 per cent above our maximum capacity. Alternative means of punishment and rehabilitation are needed to reduce overcrowding in prisons.
"This amended act, which makes provision for first-time offenders meted out light sentences as punishment, will more effectively reduce overcrowding in prisons while reducing the possibility of repeat offenders.
"By enabling such offenders with light sentences to do community work and rehabilitation exercises, such as attending religious classes or upskilling programmes on a weekly basis where they pose no threat and are able to return home to spend quality time with their families, it is hoped that in the long run they will learn their lesson, avoid being repeat offenders and become productive members of society," said Nordin.
Home Ministry secretary-general, Datuk Wan Ahmad Dahlan Abdul Aziz, officiated the launching ceremony for the Offender's Compulsory Presence Act (Amendment) 2022 (Act A1660) at the Prisons Department headquarters here on behalf of the home minister.