PUTRAJAYA: The government has to study in detail the proposal to increase the salaries and allowances for low-ranked police staff as it would have a multiplier effect, said Home Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
Even though the Home Ministry supported the proposal, it cannot make a decision on its own and must refer to other parties such as the Public Service Department and Finance Ministry before tabling it to the Cabinet, he said.
“With the current state of economics in the country, all parties must be patient before any decision is made
on the matter,” he told reporters at the Immigration Department’s Hari Raya Aidilfitri gathering here yesterday.
Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was reported as saying the government will look at the proposal by Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Abdul Hamid Bador about the salary of policemen at the sergeant and lower ranks.
Director of Bukit Aman’s Department of Management Datuk Abdul Rahim Jaafar was reported on June 14 as saying a report on the proposal for increase in salary and allowances for about 82,000 members of the police force of sergeant and lower ranks would be handed over to the government within two months.
On a separate development, Muhyiddin said visa issuance for Chinese tourists entering Malaysia is still being conducted by the same company, pending investigations, until another company is appointed.
“So far, no other company has been appointed to take over and the case has not been settled yet, we will allow the company to continue issuing the visas,” he said, adding that the entry of a large number of Chinese tourists was one of the factors the company’s services were continued.
In 2016, the company was given exclusive rights to manage the overseas visa (Visa Luar Negara or VLN) online system including eNTRI and eVISA for Chinese tourists entering Malaysia.
Meanwhile, Muhyiddin said he left it to the Registrar of Societies (RoS) to investigate and decide on the status of UMNO which had allegedly received money from 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), if a report has been filed on the matter.
On Monday, Pakatan Harapan Youth sent a letter to the RoS calling for action to be taken against Umno following the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) revelation that several party branches had allegedly received funds from 1MDB. —Bernama