Auditor-General’s 2012 Report (11)
by Hafiz Yatim
Malaysiakini
Oct 1, 2013
AUDIT REPORT The Auditor-General’s 2012 report reveals that the Royal Malaysian Police Force recorded a total of 309 missing items in the form of weapons, handcuffs and cars.
It also reported that the Royal Customs Department wasted a whopping RM600,000 on 7,659 pairs of shoes that were not according to specification and were then badly damaged during prolonged storage.
The items missing from the police force were recorded between 2010 and 2012, resulting in losses amounting to RM1.33 million.
The auditor-general reports that handcuffs topped the list of missing items at 156, followed by 44 weapons and 29 police vehicles.
However, the types of the missing weapons, which accounted for 14.2 percent of the items, were not specified.
Other items reported missing included 26 walkie-talkies, six cameras, four computers and 22 radios.
Selangor recorded the highest number of missing items with 36, followed by Penang (28), with Johor and Kuala Lumpur recording 23 items each.
The auditor-general also reports that there was unsatisfactory management at the Bukit Aman federal police headquarters and three state police headquarters.
The report says the management of police assets has been unsatisfactory as many losses recorded in 2010 and 2011 remained unresolved.
“Besides this, information on the losses of assets and the status of investigation between Bukit Aman, Kuala Lumpur, and state police contingent headquarters need to be properly aligned,” the report states.
Monitoring system for the police
The police force, in its replies between May 23 and June 27 this year, states that it will come up with a system to monitor the loss of assets and that this was being developed by its information technology unit.
“The force will also develop a special team to identify weaknesses and propose improvements in investigating the loss of assets, including disciplinary action to be taken against those who fail to abide by orders,” it says.
The police also noted there was a discrepancy in the statistics as there was no secretariat to monitor the losses, and for the items to be deemed non-recoverable or a permanent loss.
The force then gave its assurance that it would come up with a standard operating procedure (SOP) on what is to be done in the event of the loss of assets.
“The SOP will be formulated by the end of December 2013,” the report states.
It notes that in some instances, the police have been late in lodging reports on the missing assets.
On the shoes purchased by the Customs Department, the report states that those from 2009 were badly damaged after being kept in a store for three years.
Furthermore, the sizes did not meet the needs of the Customs personnel. Tests conducted on the shoes also found the soles to be brittle.