EAIC: 176 COMPLAINTS OF MISCONDUCT, MOSTLY ABOUT IMMIGRATION DEPT

SEPANG, June 13 (Bernama) -- The Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) received 176 complaints of misconduct this year, mostly involving the Immigration Department.

Its chairman, Tan Sri Dr Ismail Bakar said that out of the 176 complaints, most involved complaints of misconduct about the agencies involved but there was no appropriate action taken with 59 complaints which caused frustration to the complainants who then filed complaints with EAIC for further investigation.

He said other complaints included agencies not following standard operating procedures (SOP) with 37 cases, abuse of power (24) and corruption (19).

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“Of the 176 complaints received, 90 per cent had been resolved. Actions taken include a full investigation of whether the case occurred or not, and asking the agency to identify (cases) and (officers) to be warned, dismissed, demoted and having their salary increment restricted,” he said.

He said this in a press conference after the EAIC Coordination Meeting with department heads of the 2024 regulatory enforcement agencies which was attended by 21 regulatory agencies here today.

Asked whether enforcement failed to stem indiscretions, Ismail said border control needs to be improved but at the same time the additional number of personnel was not sufficient without the help of advanced equipment such as detection devices at the country's ports and entry gates.

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He said the government is considering adding such devices and strengthening its use at the (country's) entry gates to prevent misuse of power by staff.

Regarding today's meeting, Ismail said another issue also discussed was the integrity strengthening programme in the 21 EAIC supervisory agencies, besides calling for 100 other agencies under the ministry to be included under EAIC's supervision to ensure there is no compromise on integrity.

-- BERNAMA