In a report in the New Straits Times today, Enforcement Agencies Integrity Commission (EAIC) chairman Yaakob Md Sam said that in most cases, the agencies’ wayward personnel got off with a mere slap on the wrist.
He also lamented that whenever the commission questioned these agencies about either the inaction or light punishment, it was usually greeted with silence – rendering the EAIC powerless to act further, said the report.
This was due to a loophole in the EAIC Act 2009, which stipulates that the commission can only make recommendations on punishments to the agencies under its watch, it added.
“It is not about us encroaching on their (enforcement agencies’) territory.
“But if you are going to deal with staff’s misconduct with kid gloves and impose the most lenient of sentences, then you must explain why this is so,” Yaakob was quoted saying.
To overcome this problem, the EAIC has asked the chief secretary to the government to empower them to deal with some 21 enforcement agencies under its purview.
The commission said they wanted the law revised to include a general penalty or a fine not exceeding RM10,000, or a two-year jail term, or both, to be imposed on individuals or agencies that fail to provide the commission with the necessary explanation (to complaints) within a stipulated time.
This included heads of department that fail to act against their workers, and fail to brief the commission on the course of action taken against wayward officers.
The proposed amendments, expected to be tabled in Parliament in October, will see the EAIC authorised to take over investigations from any enforcement agency, if the commission has reason to believe that punishments have not been meted out satisfactorily – should it be passed, said the report.
The EAIC also planned to extend the deadline for agencies in question to revert to them on action taken against errant staff, from the current 14 days to 60 days, to give “ample time to consider the misconduct cases carefully.”
Yaakob named the RTD and the police force as the top two enforcement agencies that “owed” the commission the most number of explanations, besides failing to inform them on action taken against errant staff.