Minister of Home Affairs Imran Abdulla has revealed the government has given a quota of 180 officers to improve the Maldives Correctional Service (MCS).
Speaking at the ceremony to inaugurate the second batch of the Prison-based Drug Rehabilitation Programme held in Maafushi Prison, Minister Imran said the training programme marks another important step towards developing responsible citizens. He stated the second batch is launched after making changes to the inmate units, programme and officer training after considering the outcomes of the first batch of inmate reintegration into society.
Furthermore, Minister Imran said eliminating half a century-old drug-related issues in society is quite challenging for the whole system, adding that immense efforts are being made to solve the issues. As such, he said one of the most important tasks done to solve the drug problem is to rehabilitate the drug addicts. He also mentioned the first drug rehabilitation programme in the prison was started with the tireless efforts of the Commissioner of Prisons Ahmed Mohamed Fulhu and his team.
Additionally, Minister Imran announced the government has given a quota of 180 officers to solve the challenges faced in working with fewer staff and to improve the work of the corrections. He noted a majority of them are undergoing training.
Speaking at the ceremony, Commissioner Ahmed said reforming prisoners and reintegrating them into society as good individuals are one of the main tasks of MCS. He said many thoughts, calculations and efforts have been made to make it a reality, resulting in changes in the administrative management of the MCS and hiring additional technical staff as it is believed that the work requires more technical personnel. He added the number of professionals trained in counselling, social work and psychology has increased over the past one and a half years.
Highlighting the prevalence of drugs in society, Commissioner Ahmed said there are many challenges to solving the problem and it is important to look at the efforts and gain the expertise of other countries to solve this problem. As such, he revealed in collaboration with the National Drug Agency (NDA), a separate unit has been arranged and training was provided to technical staff, highlighting the importance of authorities working together to achieve common goals.