PETALING JAYA: Sarawak will introduce a programme to help former convicts secure jobs after being released from prison, an initiative said to be the first of its kind in the country.
Sarawak’s women, childhood and community wellbeing development minister Fatimah Abdullah said the programme, called E-Life, will be implemented this year, the Borneo Post reported.
It will be carried out in collaboration with the prisons department, National Anti-Drugs Agency (AADK) and several other government agencies.
“We have already conducted workshops on how to go about it, the tracking system, monitoring and so on so that they can be independent later,” she was quoted as saying.
Fatimah said assistance will also be provided in the form of grants to former convicts who want to start a small business.
On the passing of a bill to abolish the mandatory death penalty at the Dewan Rakyat, Fatimah said the matter could be viewed as giving former convicts a second chance to start anew.
“That is why I think that prisons also provide convicts with skills in the hope that they will change for the better when they are released.”
The Abolition of Mandatory Death Penalty Bill 2023, tabled for its second and third reading by deputy law and institutional reform minister Ramkarpal Singh, proposed to give judges discretionary powers in sentencing.
The bill also gives judges the option to impose jail terms of up to 40 years in place of the mandatory death penalty. - FMT
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