Meeting Inmates At Kandangan Detention Center In South Kalimantan, Only Allowed Once A Week, Visitors Must Have Boosters

Illustration of a prisoner in a prison or prison. (Antara)

KALSEL - All visitors to the Class II B State Detention Center (Rutan) Kandangan, Hulu Sungai Selatan Regency, South Kalimantan (Kalsel) must have booster vaccinations.

Head of Kandangan Class IIB Detention Center, Jeremia Leonta, explained that the third vaccine was mandatory in connection with the opening of face-to-face visits at Kandangan Class II B Detention Center since July 18, 2022.

"Thursday has reopened face-to-face visits by implementing strict health protocols. This is in accordance with a circular from the Directorate General of Corrections that those who enter must have a booster or a third vaccine," he said in Kandangan, South Kalimantan, quoted from Antara, Sunday, July 31.

He explained that visitors were still limited to close family members, with the visit schedule divided into two, namely prisoners inmates on Mondays and Tuesdays, and on Thursdays for inmates.

The inmates visited have also been vaccinated with at least the second vaccine. Thus, he continued, if there are consignments of detainees, both from the police and the prosecutor's office, they have not been vaccinated, cannot be visited, and must be vaccinated first.

In fact, said Jeremia Leonta, there are some prisoners from five to seven people who are hampered by not being vaccinated because of comorbidities and their identity cards (KTP) are not clear.

"Those who do not have ID cards or ID numbers are not only from HSS but also from outside the region. In addition, detainees cannot be visited directly because they have to follow the introduction of the prison environment for a maximum of 30 days," he said.

According to him, during the introduction to the environment, they have not been allowed to be visited, except later after the environmental introduction period has expired, they are vaccinated and declared to be really healthy.

He acknowledged that there were advantages for the inmates at the Kandangan Detention Center. Currently, there are 286 inmates, or less because there are those who have been released.

The division of the visit schedule, he said, could also not be more than once a week. These restrictions are in order to anticipate the spread of COVID-19, in addition to implementing health protocols, such as the mandatory wearing of masks.

Jeremia conveyed that the booster dose of CIVDI-19 vaccination for prisoners at the Class II B Kandangan detention center had been carried out on July 15. While the general public can also follow it on 19 July.

"The implementation of this activity is in collaboration with BIN and the HSS Police," he said.