MP SPEAKS | Prioritise prison reforms to prevent further prison clusters

highlight the existing dismal conditions and overcrowding that have long plagued our prisons. As ticking timebombs left unaddressed for so long, the rise of the prison clusters now are simply manifestations of what was already bound to happen.

The alarming rise of Covid-19 cases in Sabah and Kedah have been linked to outbreaks in several prisons. Of the 691 new Covid-19 cases on Tuesday - our country’s all-time high - 57 percent are from the Tembok cluster (the Alor Setar Prison in Kedah).

As it stands now, six of our carceral institutions across Malaysia have been compromised. Yesterday, an 85-year-old immunocompromised inmate in Penang Prison was found unconscious in his cell and sadly passed away shortly after. Upon his death, he was tested and found to be Covid-19 positive.

Reports indicate that even cases involving temporary remand are not segregated from other inmates, with physical distancing guidelines not being adhered to - not by choice, but due to long-standing systemic challenges such as underfunding and underinvestment and failure to make the cut as a prioritised government agenda.

As a consequence, we are seeing the effects of our failure to meaningfully reform our prison systems to live up to international standards of protecting an individual’s right to health. And this has left a material impact not only on the lives of inmates but also on the ...