Dewan Negara president Rais Yatim said the matter was decided at a joint committee meeting held today to establish a caucus to tackle the issue of Covid-19 in prisons.

“One of the problems is overcrowding in prisons. We find that our prisons can only take about 46,000 inmates, but now they have more than 62,000 inmates.

“We will meet with the relevant ministers soon to discuss this matter so that immediate and long-term measures can be implemented,” he told reporters after attending the meeting here.

Rais said a special briefing on the matter would also be held with the relevant ministers after the Dewan Rakyat sitting ends on Dec 17.

He said due to the overcrowding issue, it was necessary to look for measures that would ensure prisons in the country would not be congested.

Rais said Parliament has a responsibility to look at it in the interest of the people’s well-being to help the government curb the spread of Covid-19 in prisons as a whole.