MOHA intends to equip immigration officials with body cameras
The Home Ministry (MOHA) is considering using body cameras (BWC) among Malaysian Immigration Department (JIM) officers at the country’s main entry counters.
Deputy Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Shamsul Anuar Nasarah said the matter would be implemented under the provisions of the 13th Malaysia Plan (RMK-13).
“The KDN is indeed planning to provide body cameras for our officers at the entry counters, especially at the Sultan Abu Bakar Complex (KSAB) and Sultan Iskandar Building (BSI) under the provisions of the 13th RMK,” he said during a question and answer session at the Dewan Rakyat, today.
He was responding to a supplementary question from RSN Rayer (PH-Jelutong) on efforts to tackle corruption and abuse of power among immigration officers following the issue of additional fees for plastic passport wrappers in Johor Bahru, Johor.
Commenting further, Shamsul Anuar said that purchasing passport wrappers at the immigration counters was a customer’s choice.
“Regarding the issue raised, whether immigration officers are allowed to sell plastic passport wrappers.
“The sale of plastic wrappers is optional for customers; it is up to the customer,” he said.
Yesterday, the media reported that a 23-year-old university student claimed to have been forced to make a RM5 transaction to the immigration officer’s personal bank account after being instructed to claim a renewed passport at the Urban Transformation Centre (UTC), Galleri@Kotaraya.
He claimed that the female immigration officer asked for an additional RM5 payment.
Meanwhile, the Johor Immigration explained that the student was charged RM5 for the plastic passport wrapper and a thorough internal investigation is underway