Mat (centre) witnessing the handover of duties from Mohamad Saizi (left) to Kamarulzaman at the Pengkalan Chepa Prison. — Bernama
THE Kelantan Prisons Department has embarked on a venture with the Malaysian Rubber Board to offer its prisoners training in rubber tapping.
The training is for prisoners placed under the Licensed Prisoner Release Programme (PBSL) and for those on parole, said department director Mat Yaacob.
He said 93 inmates from the Machang Moral Rehabilitation Centre were released under the PBSL recently to begin their new roles as rubber tappers at plantations in Kuala Krai, Tanah Merah and Gua Musang.
This year, the department planned to train 750 prisoners who, upon release, would tap rubber in plantations across Kelantan, he said during the Kelantan Prisons Day celebration and handover of duties of the Pengkalan Chepa Prisons director in Kota Baru.
At the event, Senior Assistant Commissioner Kamarulzaman Ismail was appointed the Pengkalan Chepa Prison director to succeed Prisons Superintendent Mohamad Saizi Ibrahim.
Mat said the department’s Corporate Smart Internship (CSI) programme had 48 employers from various sectors such as the plantation, industry, manufacturing, retail and food sectors.
He said 99.9% of Kelantan’s released prisoners secured employment soon after their release and that the recidivism rate stood at only 0.24% among released prisoners.
