IPOH: The Kamunting Correctional Centre (Kemta) in Taiping produces over 12 tonnes of food supply each month through its agricultural and livestock breeding efforts.
Perak Plantation, Agriculture and Food Industry Committee chairman Razman Zakaria said Kemta was one of the prison institutions that had been conducting skills training in agro-agriculture, livestock breeding and fisheries to produce entrepreneurs for the past 20 years.
"The production covers food supply for all prisons in Perak and the Seberang Prai Prison Complex in Sungai Jawi, Penang.
"This includes supplying catfish and vegetables such as bean sprouts, kangkong (water spinach) and others two to three times a month to all prisons in Perak as well as Penang or the North Zone prison," he said in a statement on Saturday (Oct 8).
When presenting Budget 2023 on Friday (Oct 7), Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz said RM10mil had been allocated under the "AgroPenjara" initiative to expand agricultural and plantation activities involving 70ha of prison land.
Tengku Zafrul said the allocation was to expand stingless bee farming in the orchard of the Dato' Murad Pre-release Prison in Melaka and to increase the supply of freshwater fish in the Kamunting Correctional Centre.
Meanwhile, Razman said the government's efforts to provide job opportunities and skills to inmates in aquaculture as well as agriculture and livestock breeding had already begun in Kemta.
He said Perak was the main state for the production of marine products and aquaculture which was an important element for the government to prioritise allocations to develop the aquaculture project through the AgroPenjara initiative. – Bernama
