Detention Room In Riau Islands Overloads 60 Percent, Regional Office Asks Center To Build New Prisons In Rinai

Illustration of prisons or remand centers. (Unsplash-Hedi Benyounes)

RIAU - The Regional Office (Kanwil) of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights (Kemenkumham) of Riau Islands Province (Kepri) revealed that the prison and detention center conditions in Riau Islands are now experiencing an overcapacity or an overload of around 60 percent of detainees.

The Head of the Regional Office of the Riau Islands Ministry of Law and Human Rights, I Nyoman Gede Surya Mataram, said that to unravel the detainees, his party proposed to the center to build a prison in Ranai, Natuna Regency.

"It is not certain when the Ranai prison will be built, but it has been proposed to the center and is still in progress," said Surya Mataram in Tanjungpinang, Riau Islands, Tuesday, October 24, which was confiscated by Antara.

Surya said that the Ranai prison is planned to be built to accommodate around 500 prisoners.

He continued that in the future prisons and detention centers in Riau Islands that had exceeded the capacity of prisoners could move their prisoners to Ranai Prison.

"The excess capacity of detainees makes the coaching program in prisons/Rutan ineffective, because the facilities and number of officers are very limited," he said.

In addition, he also appealed to the public, especially in Riau Islands, to increase legal awareness in their daily lives, so that they are not easily entangled in unlawful acts or regulations that apply in Indonesia that lead to imprisonment.

The Riau Islands Ministry of Law and Human Rights Regional Office together with all relevant stakeholders are also aggressively conducting routine counseling starting from the village and sub-district levels, in order to provide understanding to the public regarding the importance of legal awareness in social life.

"Do not let the Riau Islands who enter prisons or detention centers increase again, because now it has exceeded the capacity of detainees," he said.

Meanwhile, the Governor of Riau Islands, Ansar Ahmad, said that the condition of prisons and detention centers, which are currently experiencing excess capacity, is certainly a problem that needs serious attention from the central government.

On the other hand, he said, overcapacity of prisoners should not be a justification for potential irregularities that occur in prisons or detention centers, such as drug control, extortion, to the use of cellphones in prisons and detention centers.

"So steps and efforts must continue to be taken in fixing and solving this problem with strategic programs," said Ansar.

In addition, continued Ansar, the excess capacity of these detainees should also be seen in a more positive direction.

According to him, this condition can be used as the main capital in forming superior human resources.

It is hoped that the ranks of prisons and detention centers can become institutions that are able to prepare inmates who are tough, have skills, have high productivity and are empowered