Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has announced several “gifts” for the police force in conjunction with the 211st Police Day celebrations in Kuala Lumpur today, totalling over RM1.5 billion.

In his officiating speech, he said this contrasted with the opposition, saying unlike the son of a certain unnamed opposition leader, the BN government is appreciative of the police force’s sacrifices in the line of duty.

“His beloved son said he wants to sack all senior government officers if his party comes to power after the 14th general election.

“We, on the other hand, are always appreciative of the police’s contributions, and I would like to state that the incumbent government would continue to fight for the interests and welfare of police personnel,” he said.

Najib appears to be referring to Bersatu vice president Mukhriz Mahathir, who reportedly said on March 18 that several top civil servants would be sacked within 30 days after Pakatan Harapan comes to power.

Mukhriz reportedly said this is because these particular civil servants had allegedly gone out of their way to protect “criminals” who are in power, rather than work in the people’s interests.

Meanwhile, Najib said RM15 million would be allocated to repair the police quarters at the Police Training Centre (Pulapol) in Kuala Lumpur where the celebrations took place.

In addition, he said the government through Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) will allocate RM1.5 billion for the Amanah Saham Bumiputera’s (ASB) i-KOP investment scheme, which would benefit members of the police cooperative as well as future and present retirees.

Najib said the government would also allocate 10,000 units of public housing for police personnel under the 1Malaysia Public Servants’ Housing Scheme (PPA1M).

Speaking to reporters later Inspector-General of Police Mohamad Fuzi Harun said Najib pledged to ensure that the RM15 million allocation for the repair works would be approved as soon as possible so that the repairs on broken lifts and other damages can begin soon.

Units to be expanded

He said the government has also agreed in principle with the police’s request to expand the police’s VAT69 and Special Actions Team (UTK) special forces units.

“He has ordered the government secretary (Ali Hamsa) to consider our application to expand UTK and VAT69,” he said.

He said the UTK currently number about 400 personnel and the police hope to double this number in the next two or three years.

The police are considering to expand Senoi Praaq unit as well which is a part of the General Operations Force and comprises entirely of Orang Asli.

Fuzi said the unit is valued for its “extraordinary” jungle tracking skills that are unmatched by other units.

Apart from these, Fuzi said the police wants to set up Federal Reserve Units (FRU) in Sabah and Sarawak where none are currently present.

The police also want to set up an FRU women’s detachment as well, where there is currently only one such unit.