PM Dato Seri Najib Razak should take full responsibility for and explain a report in the NST yesterday alleging that a staggering 80 per cent of the nation’s security personnel and law enforcement officers at Malaysian borders are corrupt.
According to the report the shocking revelation “is the result of 10 years of covert, deep-cover surveillance and intelligence gathering by the Special Branch at the nation’s border checkpoints, and at different enforcement agencies throughout the country, including the Immigration Department, the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA), the Anti-Smuggling Unit (UPP) and the police’s General Operations Force.”
The report went further to state “that these personnel were not only on the take, but many were on the payroll of syndicates dealing with drugs, weapons and even human smuggling.”
Needless to say, this is a matter most serious in nature. It is not only evidence of the fact that our borders are not secure but also that corruption has seeped into and seriously impacted on our enforcement agencies, and that our government despite their knowing full well of the problem for over 10 years now, has failed to deal with the problem.
The Prime Minister must answer. The report is clear. He must explain how it is this has been going on for over 10 years now and why it is we have failed to stop it.
This is even more important now as we have become the centre of international and global discussion as a result of the recovery of mass graves believed to be related to human trafficking activities. This has led to many questioning the efficiency of our police, the home and defence ministries and enforcement agencies respectively.
The Prime Minister cannot turn a blind eye to something as significant and as huge as this. He is responsible for his government and cabinet which include agencies and ministries responsible for these matters.
Parliament is in session. I will most certainly raise this matter in the Dewan Rakyat next week and demand answers. There must be accountability and heads must role over this matter.
The Prime Minister must show leadership and respond. He must react in a manner which inspires confidence, which demonstrates he is tough and firm enough to deal with a crisis like this even to the extent of sacking those responsible, be it even the Home and Defence Ministers and heads of those other agencies if necessary, in the circumstances.