THE cabinet has instructed Chief Secretary to the Government Mohd Zuki Ali to set up an internal committee to investigate the incident involving a senior government official and an Immigration officer at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) recently.

Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the matter had been discussed in the cabinet meeting because he did not want to see disunity among government servants following the incident.

“The cabinet has agreed to ask the chief secretary to the government to look into the matter and set up an internal committee.

“We must be fair to all parties, namely the complainant and the respondent. We will leave it to the committee to conduct an investigation,” he told reporters after the opening ceremony of the 2022 Malaysian Agriculture, Horticulture and Agro Tourism Exhibition (Maha 2022) in Serdang, Selangor, today.

Ismail was asked to comment on allegations that Public Service Department director-general Mohd Shafiq Abdullah had used abusive language against an Immigration officer at KLIA on August 3.

The Public Service Department, in a statement on August 4, denied the allegations against Shafiq and stated that he only reprimanded Immigration officers at KLIA for not adhering to stipulated practices and procedures.

On the membership of the committee, Ismail said it is likely to involve external parties while some have even suggested Attorney-General Idrus Harun be appointed as chairman, but Zuki will be left to decide on the matter. – Bernama, August 6, 2022.