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Abdullah should clarify at the first opportunity in his current visit to Europe whether he fully accepts the 125 recommendations and the timeframe of the Royal Police Commission to implement 80 per cent or 99 recommendations  within 12 months by May next year
 


Media Statement
by Lim Kit Siang

(Parliament, Wednesday):Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak yesterday expressed surprise at the disclosure by the Royal Police Commission Report about the RM34 million assets declaration by a senior police officer and said that although no name was mentioned, he was certain the Inspector-General of Police will give it due attention.

The surprise is Najib’s surprise, as the Royal Police Commission Report was presented to the Prime Minister some three weeks ago on April 29, the same day it was presented to the Yang di Pertuan Agong. 

Although the public is learning for the first time about the  “RM38 million Cop”  after the release of the Commission Report on Monday, Najib should have known about it for some three weeks already.

The question is why no action had been taken by the highest authorities  in the past 19 days to get to the bottom of  the “RM34 million Cop” scandal or other corruption disclosures, such as:

  • A senior ranking police officer in Selangor collecting “protection money” amounting to RM200,000 per month from owners of various illegal premises such as vice dens and also from operators of slot machines and illegal gambling, owning several houses, shop lots, luxury vehicles and shares with accumulated wealth estimated to be about RM7.4 million.  The ACA is  still investigating the case since 2002!
     

  • Police officers enjoying luxurious lifestyles that far exceed their income, owning choice real estate, luxury cars and petrol stations, live in palatial houses and hold wedding receptions in five-star hotels.
     

  • Police officers bribing  other officers to gain an advantage such as being transferred to ‘gold mine’ postings, e.g.  Commercial Crime Department, Traffic Branch, Criminal Investigation Department (D7 covering secret societies, anti-vice and gambling), Narcotics Department, Logistics Department (Procurement and Development) and Deployment and Promotions Division.
     

  • “The division responsible for procurement of goods and services is particularly prone to corruption…..It is a source of enormous waste of government expenditures, estimated to amount up to 30-40 percent more than the actual procurement costs.”
     

  • Police officers bribed by informants to detain and investigate innocent “suspects”.

But Najib’s biggest surprise is his statement that “For now, we do not want to say what can and cannot be accepted by the Government”, indicating that the government has not decided whether  to accept in full or in part the 125 recommendations of the  Royal Commission to transform the police force into a world-class 21st century organization that is efficient, clean and trustworthy, dedicated to serving the people and the nation with integrity and respect for human rights.

This is most shocking as it is at variance with the implicit undertaking of full acceptance of the 125 recommendations by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi when declaring  that he is “committed to implementing recommendations that can improve the organisation and prestige of the Royal Malaysian Police as a capable and efficient law enforcement agency for the 21st century”.

My disagreement with Abdullah is the necessity for a task force headed by  him to carry out detailed study of the 125 recommendations and categorise them for immediate, medium and long-term implementation, as this has been done in the Commission Report.

The Royal Police Commission Report included a time-frame for the implementation of all the recommendations, dividing the 125 proposals into five main categories for the implementation of  80 per cent or 99 of the 125 recommendations within 12 months by May 2006, viz:

Implementation   by  June 2005      –                  5

                          by  August 2005  –               21

                          by  December 2005 -           22

                          by  January 2006 -               14

                          by  May 2006   -                 37         

                                  Total                          99

Only Abdullah can clear the confusion and doubt about the government’s commitment to fully accept and implement the 125 recommendations of the Royal Police Commission, and I call on the Prime Minister to clarify at the first available opportunity in his current visit to Europe  as to whether he fully accepts the 125 recommendations and the timeframe of the Royal Police Commission to  implement 80 per cent or 99 recommendations within 12 months by May next year.

(18/05/2005)                                                    


*  Lim Kit Siang, Parliamentary Opposition Leader, MP for Ipoh Timur & DAP Central Policy and Strategic Planning Commission Chairman