Wan Junaidi calls for Sarawakians to lead police force in major towns and cities
KUCHING: Deputy Home Affairs Minister Datuk Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said he will recommend Sarawakian officers to lead the state’s police force and fill the post of police district chiefs or OCPDs in major towns and cities in the state.
Speaking to reporters at his Hari Raya open House, he said it was more appropriate for police officers from the state to lead the force at state and district levels.
“It doesn’t matter what race they are, Chinese, Malays, Dayaks or Orang Ulus. I will be very happy if they can come back here and serve in their own state,” he said.
However, he as quick to point out that he was not anti-West Malaysians especially against those who had served in the state but stressed that it would be better to see more Sarawakians transferred back to the state and serve the people.
“I am not talking about filling all the police chiefs’ posts with Sarawakians but it would be good if we have Sarawakians to serve in major towns and cities such as Kuching, Sibu, Bintulu and Miri,” he said, adding that currently only Bintulu police chief is a local in the person of Supt. Madang Usat.
On a separate issue, Wan Junaidi who is also Santubong MP said his ministry would be setting up an Anti-Smuggling Unit (UPP) in Sarawak soon to address rampant smuggling along the Sarawak-Kalimantan border.
“We will get the right people from the various enforcement agencies such as the police, immigration and customs department to form the UPP here in Sarawak,” he said.
The Deputy Minister said without a special unit to tackle smuggling then it would not be easy to tackle the flow of contraband across the some 1,500 km border with Kalimantan especially of controlled items.
Smugglers from both sides of the border use paths and even roads they made across the boundary lines to avoid the customs when they transport contraband.
The bigger routes are referred locally as ‘jalan gajah’ or elephant roads while the small paths are known as ‘jalan tikus’ or rats road.
Wan junaidi said, “Once we have the UPP, then they could check all our jalan tikus and jalan gajah to prevent smuggling activities along our border.”