Govt to build jail for drug offenders

MEDAN, North Sumatra: The North Sumatra provincial administration will build a special detention center in Deli Serdang regency for drug addicts and drug related offenders, at a cost of Rp 2 billion (US$235,294).

North Sumatra Governor T. Rizal Nurdin said on Friday the center would be built next year.

He said the center was urgent because the province's overcrowded jails and detention centers could no longer handle drug suspects.

Nearly 80 percent of detainees at police stations in Medan are there on drug related charges.

The head of North Sumatra's National Narcotics Agency, Rudolf Pardede, said the agency had studied the negative effects of having drug suspects mix with other suspects in the same cell.

According to Pardede, who is also the vice governor of North Sumatra, drug suspects can have a bad influence on other suspects. -- JP