Prison to install metal detector, X-ray scanner

JAKARTA (JP): A metal detector and an X-ray scanner will be installed in Cipinang penitentiary in East Jakarta next month in an effort to make the jail more secure, an official said here on Monday.

Everyone, including the penitentiary staff, will have to pass through the security devices before entering, Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra said.

The installation of the devices is aimed at eliminating the smuggling of weapons and drugs into the jail, Yusril told reporters during a weapons' handover ceremony at which some prisoners symbolically handed over their weapons to the minister.

Over the past few months, Cipinang penitentiary has seen a number of brawls among inmates and some prisoners have also managed to escape.

Yusril said that the devices could not be installed sooner due to a lack of funds.

Since Aug. 17, a total of 415 weapons have been handed over by prisoners after the penitentiary authorities persuaded them to do so in exchange for remission from the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights.

Yusril said that the penitentiary was expecting the prisoners to hand over more weapons under the program, which runs until Sept. 15.

A number of former employees of the now defunct information ministry would be deployed to guard the penitentiary, Yusril said, adding that some of them had been trained to become penitentiary guards.

"However, when they were asked to guard the penitentiary, they were afraid," Yusril said, adding that further training was being provided so that they would not be so scared.

Currently there are about 400 staff in the penitentiary, including the guards, who work four rotating shifts.

For every shift, there are only about 45 guards assigned to watch over more than 2,200 prisoners.

Yusril said that ideally a guard should only have to supervise some 40 prisoners.

To support the guards, the police would deploy some Mobile Brigade teams, he added.

Cipinang Penitentiary has a capacity of 1,789 prisoners,

Yusril said that some of them would be sent to the newly- established penitentiaries in Tangerang and Cirebon, West Java.

According to Yusril, most penitentiaries in the country are overcrowded because the incidence of crime in the country increases each year while the number of jails remains the same.

The government also planned to rebuild cells on Nusakambangan island off the coast of Central Java, which would eventually be able to accommodate some 10,000 prisoners from around the country.(04)