Homeland Security Minister Ali Ihsan has said that the monthly expenditure for a single prisoner serving a sentence is at MVR 27,000.

Minister Ihsan made the remarks while briefing the Parliament's Committee on Security Services (241 Committee), regarding the function of the Homeland Security Ministry. He stated that the current expenditure for prisoners at Maldives' prisons are higher than those in prisons abroad.

The Minister said that the expenditure is high due to the prisons being located at different places.

"Prisons require certain things like logistics, support, security, maintenance, and administration," Minister Ihsan said.

As such, Minister Ihsan said the Cabinet has approved a concept for a single-facility prison to reduce cost and improve the maintenance.

He added that with the new concept the prison will follow international standards, especially the Mandela Principles, ensuring that convicts do not stay in prison for long but receive rehabilitation to assist them to integrate back into society.

"This concept would enable convicts to earn while serving their sentences," Minister Ihsan said.

The Minister said that the rehabilitation process of the prison would then be designed in such a way that the sentence is reduced as long as people are involved in the rehabilitation process.

He added that the prison is over-crowded at present and the conditions are bad, but that the prison is being handled in the best way possible with the available resources.