KOTA KINABALU: A working paper on the proposed new service scheme for local enforcement authority (PBT) will be completed in a week and submitted to the Public Service Transformation Commission by December 20.
Mohd Fauzi Maarop, director of enforcement and security department at Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ), said local enforcement authorities should have their own schemes that correspond with their workload, challenges and risks.
“The new proposed scheme will include the review of the service scheme, new incentives which correspond to our workload and risks in order to create a revolution for PBTs,” he said in an interview after a talk on the transformation of PBT services in Malaysia.
The need to carry firearms by PBT officers would also be studied based on the risks, he said.
A total 267 of 316 PBT members from 23 PBTs in Sabah and Labuan attended the talk, recording an attendance rate of 84.5 per cent.
Fauzi hoped the working paper could be completed in a week as it needed to be submitted to the commission by December 20.
“We will present the working paper and apply for approval; we also hope the government would consider, if possible, the working paper as soon as possible.
Among the proposals under the new scheme discussed by Fauzi in his presentation were to review the organization and functions of PBT enforcement in Malaysia, review service scheme, salary and allowances, create career pathways and timebase promotion, review existing and obsolete laws, and standardize training courses for new and existing PBT officers.
Meanwhile, Aziz Muda, deputy president of the Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services (Cuepacs) Malaysia cum the organizing chairman of the talk, said the event was the 11th roadshow held in the country, and more than 6,000 enforcement officers had participated in the talk nationwide.
Aziz said both Cuepacs and MBPJ had proposed to the government to have their own scheme for local enforcement authorities rather than being placed under the administration service scheme due to the different job scope and jurisdiction.
He said Cuepacs and Amalgamated National Union of Local Authority Employees (Anulae) were working towards strengthening PBT and the transformation was needed to provide better incentives for PBTs.
Aziz said the risks faced by PBTs had been ignored, adding that there had been enforcement officers who died while on duty in Sabah.
The risks faced by PBTs, he said, could be equivalent to the risks faced by the police force, and more than the Maritime or Road Transport Department.
Hence, he said PBTs should be placed under a new scheme that would also create a career pathway for the officers.
He added that it had also been proposed to the government to expedite the restructuring of PBTs, saying that five PBTs, including PBT Labuan and Pasir Gudang had agreed on the new scheme.
On a related matter, Aziz said Cuepacs hoped the government, particularly the Prime Minister, would consider extending the employment period of contract workers to 2013, as the contract workers would lose their jobs when their contracts ended on December 31 this year.