0 Kerobokan clean of drugs, is it possible?

The chief warden of Kerobokan Prison in Denpasar, I Gusti Ngurah Wiratna, has acknowledged that the prison is not yet free of drugs. However, he recently received a decree stating that Kerobokan Penitentiary would serve as a pilot project for all prisons in Indonesia. “I just received the decree last night,” said Wiratna. There are 33 prisons that have been appointed in the pilot project, out of an overall 420 prisons. 

To initiate implementation of the pilot project, the prison in Kerobokan has now started to cleanse itself through a new program called Halinar, an acronym for the Indonesian words for mobile phone, illegal fees and drugs. The prison aims to eradicate the presence of all these three elements. On Wednesday morning, Wiratna hosted a gathering attended by prison staff and inmates. At the gathering, the former head of Karangasem Prison announced that the prison was committed to creating an internal atmosphere that better suited a clean prison. 

“If we are not committed, we will lose everything,” said Wiratna. During the assembly, all the inmates said they were willing to adhere to the program. Wiratna declared that there would be no more cell phones in the inmate blocks. Nonetheless, he acknowledged that eight mobile phones had been found in Block H during a raid just a few days ago. The cell phones ranged from high tech ones to simple ones. I Made Paris Adnyana was one of those caught red-handed carrying a cell phone, which has now been confiscated. 

Wiratna gave his assurances that communications between the inmates and their families would not be cut because of the cell phone ban. A prison telephone facility has been made available in the form of a telephone booth large enough for one person at a time to use. Five Nokia cell phones are available for use by the inmates. These mobile phones were purchased from the prison’s budget at around Rp 200,000 (US$20.6) each. Inmates who use the phones must pay for the phone call, according to its duration. “All inmates can use these cell phones, even the foreign inmates too,” said Wiratna. 

The phones are only available only during working hours. Although inmates are not supposed to have any cash, Wiratna admitted he had not been able to find a solution for the matter. Thus, inmates in Kerobokan Penitentiary can still freely carry cash in their pockets. Both money and cell phones are usually obtained by the inmates from their visiting relatives. So, how about the curb on drugs? Wiratna said he does not have any specific measures, except to continue performing searches and raids. 

The last time the prison guards carried out a raid, they found an astonishing 1.5 kilograms of drugs. The prisoner who owned the drugs had his sentence extended. The drugs were thrown over the prison’s western wall into the prison compound. “No guards had been involved in that case, if there were any, I would hang them,” said Wiratna. Wiratna acknowledged that the height of the wall had reduced as time had gone by and as the adjacent roads had become higher. 

Meanwhile, Wiratna gave his assurances that the prison was already free from any form of extortion. One visitor told Bali Daily, “I never pay anything. I just come in.” The lady in red had brought drinks and snacks for her relative that afternoon. The guards had however checked her bags before she came through the prison gate.

source : bali daily