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Work on new prison in Tangerang to start next week
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Inmates captured by police after a prison break look out of a window at the Sialang Bungkuk detention center in Pekanbaru, Riau, on May 5. (Antara/Rony Muharman)
T
span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US">The Law and Human Rights Ministry is about to begin the construction of a new penitentiary with an open camp concept on land owned by Jakarta administration in Tangerang, Banten.
“The groundbreaking is set to be conducted next Wednesday,” city secretary Saefullah said on Wednesday, as quoted by kompas.com.
The ministry’s plan to lease 30 hectares of a 100-ha plot owned by the Jakarta administration in Ciangir village has been discussed since 2006.
The new penitentiary is considered crucial to tackle overcrowding at some prisons in Jakarta.
The Salemba penitentiary and detention center in Central Jakarta, for instance, houses more than 5,000 inmates, far exceeding the 2,000 people it was originally meant to hold.
Meanwhile, there are nearly 7,000 inmates at the Cipinang penitentiary and detention center in East Jakarta, way over its original purpose of holding 2,000 prisoners.
Jakarta Governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat said earlier that the planned penitentiary would be able to accommodate around 5,000 inmates.
Besides providing land for the penitentiary, the city also plans to build a retirement home and develop productive farmlands on the remaining 70-ha area.
The farmlands would also be used by inmates as part of their rehabilitation program, Djarot said. (cal)
