TUARAN, Oct 16 — The rehabilitation programme through parole and community services has been very effective, with only one out of 800 prisoners who followed the programme returning to prison, said Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.

He said the 0.125 percentage was considered very low, compared to the 18.6 per cent of those who did not follow the programme and returned to prison.

He said one important mechanism for rehabilitation through parole and community services is the provision of transitional homes that house parolees and former convicts so that they have a temporary place to live and for activities and classes.

"We have 14 transitional homes nationwide, we help out former (prison) inmates who are accepted back in the community and will not abandon them to the point of them returning to a life of crime,” he told a press conference here today.

Earlier, Saifuddin officiated the opening of the Tuaran Transitional Home at Yayasan Kebajikan Suria complex in Kampung Panjut, Berunggis, here. Also present were Prisons Department Commissioner-General Datuk Nordin Muhamad and Yayasan Kebajikan Suria chairman Datuk Raya Erom.

On the Tuaran transitional home, Saifuddin said it was the third in Sabah and can accommodate 100 male occupants.

The other two homes are located in Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan with a 20-person capacity for female and male occupants respectively. — Bernama