THE Ministry of Women, Early Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development has submitted a formal request to establish two new Narcotics Addiction Rehabilitation Centre (PUSPEN) in Sarawak.
Deputy Minister Datuk Mohammad Razi Sitam said the application was submitted to the Home Ministry on March 11, 2025, to address the rising demand for institutional rehabilitation services.
He explained that Sarawak currently has only one PUSPEN, located in Puncak Borneo, which can accommodate just 350 clients at any one time.
“The number of individuals arrested for various drug-related offences remains high, with 33,115 arrests recorded from 2022 to 2024.
“The current capacity is no longer sufficient to meet Sarawak’s treatment and rehabilitation needs when compared to the number of arrests,” he said in response to Royston Valentine (Tellian-GPS) and Safiee Ahmad (Daro-GPS) during the question-and-answer session at the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting today.
As an interim measure, Razi said the state has set up Community Development and Intervention Centres (CDICs) in several districts to support community-based recovery initiatives.
Three CDICs have been established so far – CDIC Mukah in Oya, CDIC Bau and CDIC Subis – serving surrounding districts including Dalat, Matu and Daro.
He said these centres complement efforts by agencies such as the National Anti-Drug Agency (AADK), Sarawak Health Department, and local non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
Razi also said Sarawak has requested an increase in AADK personnel from the Home Ministry to improve district-level rehabilitation support.
Pending approval, he said AADK Sarawak has expanded its Drug Rehabilitation Committees (JKPD) to 45 districts to support community recovery efforts.
On the same note, he said that as of April 30, 2025, a total of 258 clients were undergoing treatment at PUSPEN Kuching, including five from the Mukah district.
“Of that total, 194 clients were undergoing court-ordered treatment, while the remaining 64 had registered voluntarily.
“Meanwhile, 3,646 individuals under supervision (OKP) are currently receiving community-based rehabilitation, including 36 from the Daro district,” he said.
