SANDAKAN: The community Iftar programme, involving mosque congregants, volunteers, and inmates held at the Sandakan Prison Institution today, holds the potential for expansion to other correctional facilities across Sabah, given its significant impact and role in fostering solidarity.

Deputy director of Sabah State Prisons and Federal Territory of Labuan, Abd Rauf Lang Pasih, emphasised the initiative’s merit as a commendable departure from the usual community rehabilitation-focused programmes, as it integrated community involvement, enriching the prison environment and facilitating rehabilitation within correctional facilities.

“Today, I observe something exceptional at the Sandakan prison. I believe that organising events like this signifies the integration of the prison and its inmates into society, marking a positive shift,“ he told reporters during the Iftar event at the Sandakan Prison Institution today.

He added that the Iftar programme is an annual event under the human rehabilitation programme held in all prison institutions nationwide, aimed at fostering a sense of camaraderie between inmates and prison staff.

During the event, inmates at the Sandakan prison made a zakat payment of RM1,425 to the Sabah Islamic Religious Council’s Zakat Centre. -Bernama