Sarawak PKR chief Baru Bian questions the professionalism of the state police force for failing to solve crimes which happened right under their noses.

 

He was referring to the smuggling of 4-wheel drive (4WD) vehicles between Lawas, Sarawak, and Long Bawan, which is on the Indonesian Kalimantan side.

 

The case, he said, caught the attention of the Sarawak police only after The Borneo Post reported the arrest of six suspects and the seizure of nine stolen 4WD vehicles by their Sabah counterparts.

 

“What have the police (in Lawas) been doing the whole of last year? There was a smuggling syndicate operating there and yet they did not know anything.

 

“How embarrassing is that the case only came to light because of the arrest by the Sabah police?

 

“Are our (Sarawakian) police incapable of doing their jobs, or is it that they don’t want to do their job?” he asked.

 

Bian also questioned the role of Deputy Chief Minister Alfred Jabu anak Numpang who brushed aside his questions on the vehicle smuggling issue which he had raised in the November sitting of the state assembly.

 

Jabu, in his reply, has said that for the period between January 2014 and October 2014, there was no report of smuggling of vehicles.

 

“Does the Deputy Chief Minister know what is going on in this state?” Bian asked.

 

‘No action when issues were brought up’

 

The Borneo Post had reported on Tuesday that a 4WD vehicle smuggling syndicate had been “crippled”, following arrests made by Sabah police

 

The syndicate members had been said to have driven stolen vehicles from Sabah to Long Bawan, Indonesia, through Ba’Kelalan.

 

Bian said the police and those in power had failed to act on crimes in the state when opposition politicians raised the issue.

 

He said it had become almost a standard response to accuse the opposition of politicising the issues, instead of acting on them.

 

“When we highlight issues, it is not just for the sake of making noise or politicising issues. In many cases, members of the public come to us for help because they cannot get anywhere when they deal directly with the authorities.

 

“For instance, the unhappiness of the Iban community with the Miri police chief for his disrespect of the miring is real because of the great significance of the adat (cultural ceremony) for the people,” he said, pointing out that the Ibans had asked for help from PKR members in Miri.

 

Miring is a ritual performed to honour the gods, spirits and ancestors, sometimes to ask for removal of obstacles or difficulties in travel or business ventures. Though practiced by various communities, it is largely associated with the Ibans.

 

“Rightly so, they had asked for an apology but by way of a response, the police chief threatened those who brought up the matter with arrest under the Sedition Act,” said Bian.

 

Bian also hoped it was not too much to ask the beefed-up police force in Lawas and Ba’ Kelalan to make concerted effort to also tackle the drug issue that is causing great harm to the community there.

 

“Instead of asking the public to lodge reports, the police should make it their business to know what is going on in their areas,” he said.