DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang has urged the government to raise the housing allowance and improve the quarters for police personnel, as many are living in dilapidated conditions.

Lim said this after he and his team visited Johor Baru Utara police station and was briefed by the district police chief about the living conditions of officers.

“I was shocked to learn of the terrible condition of police housing in the area. During the visit  of my team to the Johor Baru Utara Police and the briefing by the Johor Baru OCPD Mohd Taib Ahmad and the other police chiefs in JB Utara district, the existing police quarters are in very dilapidated condition in urgent need of repair running into tens of millions of ringgit,” he said in a statement.

“I call for the upward revision of housing allowances for police personnel in Johor Bahru and other major cities to offset higher cost of living as recommended by the police royal commission 14 years ago,” the Iskandar Puteri lawmaker added.

Lim also suggested that the government to repair the old conditions of the police quarters in the state as well as calling for the construction of adequate police quarters throughout the country.

“I am reminded of one of the 11 recommendations of the Police Royal commission 14 years ago, which recommended the formation of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC), was to improve the welfare of the police force.

“One of these recommendations proposed the provision of a special allowance for police personnel stationed in major cities, such as the Klang Valley, Johor Baru, and George Town to offset the higher cost of living faced by them.

“In a New Malaysia, we want Malaysia to be a world top-class nation – which includes having a world top-class police force,” Lim affirmed 

The issue of housing for police officers has been raised by new Inspector-General of Police Abdul Hamid Bador.

He recently said he would ensure that his men received edaquate welfare benefits from the government following the seting up of IPCMC.

Hamid has visited a number of police stations and quarters in his bid to explain to his men about the police oversight body and at the same time to present his case to Putrajaya.

In an event early this week, Hamid said that it was his job to convince police personnel on the body that will be an avenue for the public to lodge complainst against personnel.

“The police will wait for the formation of IPCMC, what it will be like.”

“After that, it is my responsibility to explain it to them and their rights and welfare will be taken care of,” he said during a visit to the Taman Tun Dr Ismail Ramadan bazaar on Thursday.

Hamid is the first IGP to agree to the IPCMC that was proposed in 2005 by a royal commission of inquiry into police misconduct.

Since then, different IGPs and police personnel have opposed it. – June 2, 2019.