The public no longer need to make a police report for lost or damage birth, marriage, academic and vehicle registration certificates, a Malaysian passport, a driving licence and a land grant.

This is stipulated under General Circular No 3 of 2011 issued by the Prime Minister’s Department on Sept 29.

Chief secretary to the government Mohd Sidek Hassan said the decision to abolish the requirement was made at the Public Complaints Standing Committee’s meeting on April 6 as police reports were actually a non-administrative practice not provided under any law.

He said in 2010, the police received over 2.8 million reports, of which 1.1 million or 40 percent were referred to other agencies.

“This shows that most of the reports lodged did not merit police actions.

“The requirement not only inconvenient the public but also does not reflect the image of an effective and consumer-friendly public service.

“On the other hand, the practice adds to police workload in handling police reports. This requirement also resulted in rising cost in police operations and does not add value to the police service delivery,” he added.

Following the abolishing, Mohd Sidek asked all government agencies to identify matters that need the public to submit a police report to government agencies as stipulated under the law.

However, he said this circular did not prevent the public from making police reports and government agencies cannot deter the public from doing so.

Several departments begin implementing move

Several government departments have begun implementing the move to do away with the requirement to have police report submitted in the application for the replacement of lost documents.

Kuala Lumpur Road Transport Department (JPJ) public relations officer Syed Abdul Halim Syed Abdullah said the department had started to implement the move a year ago and had no problem implementing it.

“We are taking into account numerous issues, for instance in crime cases such as snatch theft, where victims are required to submit police reports on the loss of documents such as their driving licence and vehicle grant documents, so that they can be exempted from paying the fines,” he told Bernama.

He said JPJ also has a comprehensive database that was being constantly monitored by its officers.

He welcomed the move, saying it would go a long way in minimising bureaucracy and costs.

National Registration Department (NRD) public relations officer Janizah Mohd Noor said the department had implemented its own application, allowing it to do away with the requirement for a police report to replace lost MyKad.

“We have our own database and those who have lost these documents are only required to come to the NRD office to report it and pay the fine set by the NRD,” she said when contacted.

National Unity and Integration Department director-general Azman Amin Hassan also hailed the decision.

The move would relieve policemen of additional duties, thus making it easy for the public to apply for new documents and speeding up the issuance of the documents, he said.

Malaysian Muslim Consumers Association advisor Tunku Azwil Tunku Abdul Razak supported the move, saying police report were only needed to prevent unauthorised use of the lost documents.

Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation vice-chairman Kamarudin Mad Ali said data centres at government departments would facilitate replacement of lost documents because of easy retrieval of records.

- Bernama