Kota Kinabalu: State Community Development and Welfare Minister Datuk James Ratib reminded agencies tasked at combating substance abuse to pull up their socks.
“There are serious shortcomings in the battle against substance abuse when 95 per cent of prisoner cases in Sabah are drug-related,” he said, when officiating the Outreach Programme cum Ihsan Madani Licensed Release of Prisoners (PBSL) in conjunction with the Chinese New Year Celebration at the Sabah and Labuan Prisons Headquarters, in Kapayan, Thursday.
Advertisement (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});He said despite the existence of the National Anti-Drugs Agency, Narcotics Department and the Malaysian Drug Prevention Association, substance abuse in Sabah continues to escalate rather than decline.
"We have all these agencies and departments but why is substance abuse still prevalent in Sabah, not decreasing but increasing by the day,” he said.
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“My own village, for example, there are parents involved in substance abuse, including my own sibling who used to take drugs and repeatedly go in and out of prison due to substance abuse.
Advertisement (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});“As a leader, I am frustrated with the departments responsible, the departments that should be controlling this, what are they doing? Why has this not been addressed?” he said.
He advised parents to guide and take care of their children from young and urged those who have been released from prison to change for the better.
Advertisement (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});He quipped that those who keep going in and out of prison would be better off being fed to crocodiles. “I hope for government interventions to help prisoners become genuinely rehabilitated.”
He said he is also looking into welfare support for vulnerable ex-prisoners especially elderly prisoners who are unable to work and prisoners with health issues that prevent them from employment.
“The assistance will be coordinated between the Sabah and Labuan Prisons Department and the Sabah Social Welfare Department,” he said.
On people claiming to be sick turning to social media for crowdfunding, he said the practice should be stopped as it can be misused.
“Sometimes this confuses people. I request that the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission to take action,” he said.
He called for a more proactive measure to prevent opportunistic behaviour that hinders Sabah’s development.
“There are instances of people who claim to be sick asking for donations on social media, sometimes they have already been helped but are still not satisfied. They are just taking advantage.
“All these viral trends sometimes anger me. Many nations are falling due to baseless viral trends.
“In my recent mandate, I reminded departments and agencies under my Ministry not to be influenced by these deliberately created viral trends,” he said.
He said there are viral trends that create baseless accusations, attempt to undermine government leadership and exploit people’s emotions for personal gain.
Meanwhile, the programme saw a total of 115 prospects (four of them women) released under the PBSL.
Sabah and Labuan Prisons Director Nora Musa said the PBSL approach brought a sense of compassion and hope to the prospects.
“By collaborating with James and the Unduk Ngadau representatives, we aim to address the root causes of criminal behaviour, particularly focusing on those who lacked family support and supervision,” she said.
She also said the Department secured an innovative housing solution through a land donation by Datuk Raya Erom.
“Originally intended for an orphanage and religious school, the property is now an intermediary housing facility for released prisoners without family support,” she said.
She said the programme offers two primary housing categories namely for recently released individuals seeking employment up to a three-month stay, while prisoners without family support are allowed an extended stay until they can become self-sufficient.
Sabah Prisons’ Board of Visiting Justices Chairperson Datuk Katherine Lee Mei Oi said PBSL is a good programme as it gives a second chance for prisoners to rehabilitate and live a normal life again.
“Otherwise, if they are still stuck there and when they come out there is nobody to give them a chance, they will go back to crime. I have been trying to introduce the second chance programme for a long time,” she said.
The programme at hand also featured the top three 2024 Unduk Ngadau winners, Hyellene Danius, Elldiwirna Saimen and Monicka Majin.
“As humans, we cannot escape from making mistakes. Everyone deserves a second chance,” Hyellene said, pointing out the programmes’ potential to support rehabilitation and economic reintegration.