Prisons and detention houses in Ho Chi Minh City have been downgraded and failed to meet minimum area per individual, the HCMC People’s Procuracy reported on Nov.16 to the Legal Department of the law-making HCMC People’s Council.

Offenders in the prisons of both levels of district and city have not had enough minimum area of two square meters each, according to the agency in charge of public prosecution.

So, policies and regulations and other conditions for offenders have not been well observed. Recently, police of districts 2, 5, and Nha Be have had to send prisoners and offenders on remand to Chi Hoa Prison for the shortage of detention areas in the localities.

The HCMC People’s Procuracy proposed the People’s Council and the People’s Committee of HCMC and the Ministry of Public Security to spend investment for upgrading and building new prisons.

According to the report of the HCMC People’s Procuracy, the city had 8,966 offenders involving in 8,638 new cases being prosecuted in the last 11 months this year, marking an increase of 715 offenders and 637 cases against the same period last year.

The most increasing crimes include theft, intentional assault, swindle, and gambling. Many of them were considered serious criminal cases.