Proposed legislation in Samoa to separate the management of local prisons from the ministry of police has been well supported during a parliamentary debate during the second reading of the bill.
However several MPs want improvements to services such as inmates' accommodation, food, as well as rehabilitation programmes.
A former judge and MP for Vaimauga west constituency, Lefau Harry Schuster, wants mentally ill inmates separated from other prisoners.
The minister of police, Sala Fata Pinati, says the government will consider all the advice it gets before the bill will come back to Parliament for the final reading in the next session.
He says part of the separation of the administration of prisons is to improve services, especially the rehabilitation programme.
