Stop transfer of problematic policemen to S’wak, says PKR

MIRI – Sarawak PKR vice-chairman Roland Engan has called on the state government to not allow police to transfer their allegedly errant personnel here, subject to a proper explanation of their decision.

In a statement today, Roland asked whether the state government has an unwritten understanding with police on such transfers, with both Sabah and Sarawak being a “dumping ground” for aberrant police officers.

“Why is there no protest from the state leaders? Why did they not stop such transfers?

“We in Sarawak welcome everyone but in cases such as this, we are worried that problematic civil servants being transferred here will spread their problems.

“The people of Sarawak have the right to get good civil servant services, not problematic ones,” he said in a statement today.

He was commenting on reports quoting Selangor deputy police chief Datuk S. Sasikala Devi who announced that the policemen presently under investigation for extortion were being transferred to Sabah and Sarawak.

According to Sinar Harian, the officers ranked between constables and sub-inspectors from the Narcotics division were detained last Friday for allegedly extorting a businessman in Gombak.

Investigations into the case are currently ongoing.

Engan called on the state government, federal government, and police to come clean on the issue.

“The failure of being accountable to the people could lead to numerous assumptions especially in Sabah and Sarawak that they were being treated as a dumping ground by those in the peninsula,” he said.

As such, he opined on the need for a proper mechanism to rehabilitate these personnel.

“If we in Sarawak are playing a role in helping them turn over a new leaf, then that may be good, but there must be assurances in place to safeguard the interests of the locals,” he stressed.

Meanwhile, Bandar Kuching’s DAP MP Dr Kelvin Yii also voiced a similar view and has since submitted questions regarding this issue to the Dewan Rakyat for the ministerial question time this morning for a response from the home minister.

“Such actions open a bigger question on the ‘frequency of such an action’ and whether over the years this has been common practice to merely transfer ‘problematic’ and even non-performing civil servants to these two regions.

“At the end of the day, maybe there is a need to reform and put in place a proper mechanism to address unscrupulous and non-performing civil servants rather than merely transferring them here and there and passing the problem to either another state or even department.

“Such a move is not meant to punish our civil servants, but to set a good standard and competency of our civil service, which is the backbone of our government.

“This includes having better and equitable incentives for those performing under merit,” he added. – The Vibes, August 3, 2022