Pamekasan Prison for Drug Convicts Focuses on Rehabilitation

Jakarta Globe, Jun 09, 2015

The newly-opened Pamekasan prison focuses on rehabilitation of
drug-addicted inmates. (AFP Photo/Romeo Gacad)

Jakarta. Justice Minister Yasonna Laoly has opened a prison in Pamekasan district on Madura Island that will specifically focus on rehabilitating drug-addicted inmates.

Yasonna said the government was waging a war on drugs, but it was also trying to help drug addicts by providing rehabilitation centers.

Inmates that are drug addicts needed to get rehabilitated, he said.

“I hope that rehabilitation process could help reduce the number of drug addicts in Indonesia,” Yosanna told Tempo.co on Tuesday.

The Pamekasan facility covers 43,574 square meters and can accommodate 1,235 inmates.

“This prison was specially built for drug-addict inmates. The construction spent Rp 94 billion ($7 million). The budget was taken from the state budget,” said I Wayah Dusak, the head of East Java’s Justice Ministry Office.

The new prison is the sixth prison in East Java that is focused specifically on rehabilitation.