The 3 elected Adun of DAP from the Sibu area has made the appointment to see the KPD (Ketua Polis Daerah) on the 15th August 2011 to highlight the security issues affecting the people and submit them with recommendations as how to improve certain areas of the police operations. Below are the terms of reference which l have drafted for the dialogue.
Terms of reference
1) House break-ins
We have received numerous complaints about the frequent break-in of residential houses in Sibu and in particular areas like Rejang Park, Taman Indah, Jalan Teku, Kampung Bahagia Jaya and also in the whole of Sibu in general.
We hope the police would send more patrol vehicles and do regular patrols to deter these crimes.
2) Theft of electric wires and Telekom wires
It is well known and well publicized that the cable theft in Sibu is rampant and people complain about the loss of electric current and telephone services on a weekly basic because of cable and metal theft. Sesco and Telekom also blamed the theft for their economic losses. The worst affected areas are in the west bank of Sibu such as Sg. Bidut and Bawan Assam areas as well as Ulu Teku area.
Regular patrol in these areas would certainly help as these crimes normally happen at night.
Before the Secondhand Dealers’ Act 1946 is brought into Sarawak, the police can actually monitor the secondhand dealers and seek the assistance of them not to accept suspected goods and warn them of the consequence of accepting stolen goods.
3) Bilingual officers to man the front desk of police station
Public complain of the lack of bilingual officers at the front desk of the police station which hamper the reporting of crimes in Sibu. Sibu town in particular has a demographic composition of 60% Chinese, 25% Dayaks and 15% Malay-Melanau which auger well for more officers who are dual or tri lingual to be stationed at the front desk of the police station as well as those handling in-coming calls.
This issue can easily be solved by some reshuffling of staff officer by the KPD and if necessary recruit a few officers to solve this problem.
4) Police refusal to accept lodging of report
We received numerous complaints regarding the uncooperative manner in which the officer refused to let the general public to lodge the police report especially when it is against the government department and their own colleagues. Under our Laws, no one should be denied the right to lodge report against anyone and to deny the lodging of the police report is against our basic rights granted under the Federal Constitutions.
We have in hand some documents to prove that police station turned away folks by saying that the particular area is not under their jurisdiction. The folk has to go to several different stations around Sibu to lodge their report, such as Sibu Jaya, Central station, Lanang and what not.
All the stations should be able to accept the lodging of report and all need to be done is the coordinating of the police stations.
5) Reckless racing by the youth
Illegal motorcycles racing in Sibu are common knowledge and these illegal activities are not only a nuisance to the residents but also post great danger to those who participated in it but as well as other road users. Some of these youths are barely in their teens and these have raised concerns in society in general.
These illegal racing normally has a pattern such as during Friday night and the weekend and many of those involved are known by the police authority.
6) Police’s summon resulting JPJ’s refusal to renew road tax
Federal Constitution of Malaysia, according to Article13 (2), it rendered a violation of our right for being deprived on access to our own property (such as by denial of road tax renewal)
We received complaints that some vehicles were denied road tax renewal due to unsettled police’s summons. The court has ruled nobody can blacklist vehicles on an offence that has not been proven in court.
The police should not advise the JPJ not to renew road tax simply because there are outstanding summons. We have come across one such case recently whereby JPJ Sibu has refused the renewal of road tax.
7) Police to man traffic in front of schools during after-school hour
The traffic congestions near the schools during after-school hour have been a problem that has no solution in sight. One primary school, SJKC Su Lai even enlisted the assistant of Rela temporarily to help ease the congestion. However, many schools in Sibu are located in the town center and these have created heavy traffic congestion in the town area.
The PDRM would receive praise and admiration from the public if they could tackle the problems by manning the traffic during the after-school hour. In fact only 30 minutes are required daily to solve the problem.
8) Illegal immigrants creating social problems
There are many illegal immigrants in Sibu and they are creating many social problems in the society. The public complaint that the police are not taking action against these illegals and they even say the police are collaborating with the local businessmen by turning a blind eye on their illegal migrant workers.
Sometimes we can see illegals walking around without challenge and this has caused much unease to the locals.
We trust that the above-mentioned subjects need to be tackled by the PDRM to gain the confidence and trust of the public.
