KOTA KINABALU: Director of Operations for the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission, Ahmad Razif Mohd Sidek is confident that Sabah will register “zero complaints” next year.

According to him the number of complaints against enforcement officers or agencies on cases of misconduct had been decreasing since the commission was formed.

“Last year there were seven complaints received and this year only four,” he said.

Sabah is among the states with the lowest number of complaints, which gives Ahmad Razif reason to believe that there will be zero complaints next year.

Places with very few complaints submitted to the commission are Federal Territory of Labuan, followed by Terengganu, Perlis and Sabah.

The state with highest number of complaints from 2011 to the present date is Selangor with a total of 166 followed by Kuala Lumpur with 161 complaints,” he said.

He said this when met by reporters at the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission’s dialogue with the enforcement agencies in Sabah held at the Tabung Haji building here, yesterday.

Ahmad Razif said since the Commission was established in 2011, it has received 629 complaints nationwide. Only 18 complaints were received in 2011 which increased to 329 in 2012 but dropped to 282 complaints this year.

Of the total, 256 complaints were dismissed because they were unfounded, 141 were fully investigated and the others were referred to the disciplinary units of the relevant departments and to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

The complaints were mostly related to misconduct by enforcement officers or law enforcement agencies including the Royal Malaysian Police, Customs, Immigration, Road Transport Department, National Registration Department (NRD) and other agencies that often deal with the public.

Examples of misconduct reported to the Commission have been that investigations took too long; the complainant was not informed of the status of the investigation despite having repeatedly contacted the investigating officer; and the investigating officer delayed the investigation.

Other have been that the enforcement agencies failed to arrest the culprits despite reports having been made and the suspects identified; items seized were not returned after the investigation or misplaced; the investigating officer failed to comply with Standard Operating Procedures; and that enforcement officers were rude.

Ahmad Razef said that there are only four officers in his unit to process the complaints but they will be hiring more to strengthen the unit.

Earlier at a briefing the agencies were told that the Commission’s role is to enhance integrity by curbing the occurrence of misconduct among enforcement personnel and therefore improve public confidence in the law enforcement agencies.

It receives and investigates complaints and conducts hearings, reviews procedures that are adopted by the enforcement agencies and makes recommendations.

It also helps the government in formulating legislation and administrative measures and fostering practices in good governance.