Minister to open new prisons

MATARAM, West Nusa Tenggara: Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra is slated to open 24 new penitentiaries and 19 new rehabilitation centers across the country on Sunday.

The ministry's director general for correctional institutions, Adi Soedjatru, said during the ceremony that the minister would also change the status of 44 detention centers to penitentiaries.

The consequences of the change in status would include the need for nearly 1,000 additional officers.

"We see these addition as a managerial challenge for the ministry's regional offices throughout the country," he said.

Adi was in Mataram on Wednesday to inaugurate R.M. Sindhu Kresno as the new head of the provincial office of the justice ministry. -- Antara