By Lian Cheng
KUCHING, Nov 22: Claiming there is corruption among General Operations Force (GOF) personnel at the Long Bawan/Ba’Kelalan border check point, Bakelalan assemblyman Baru Bian is calling for a clean up within GOF.
He expressed disappointment that whilst Malaysia is aiming to be an efficient administration with Sustainable Development Goals in mind, the nation has been let down by officers who abuse their positions to enrich themselves.
“Mr Speaker, in June this year, I received complaints from two Long Bawan district officers who had come to Sarawak with a delegation to attend the Lun Bawang Festival, that some of them were asked to pay money to the GOF (General Operations Force) personnel manning the border.
“These were legitimate visitors who had complete and proper inter-border documents (Pas Lintas Batas) when they passed through the checkpoint.
“They were asked to pay RM200 to RM1,000, but there have been incidents in the past where the personnel allegedly asked for up to RM1,500. There are also instances where upon leaving, some of the rations bought in Lawas were also taken by these personnel at the border.
“One of the officers said that the rules on which items were allowed and not allowed to be brought to Indonesia also appeared to change according to who was manning the border, which is confusing, because there are times certain items are allowed, but other times not allowed,” said Baru while debating Sarawak Budget 2024 during the Sarawak Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting at the DUN Complex here today.
He pointed out that there have been numerous complaints about incidents like this for many years but no action has been taken to stop it.
“This ugly practice gives our Indonesian neighbours an extremely negative perception of Sarawak and deters them from visiting us,” said Baru who added that people of integrity who are honest and sincere are needed to man Sarawak’s border posts.
Baru who is from Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) said he was given to understand that State authorities had conducted an investigation into this June incident and he would like to know the outcome of the investigation. — DayakDaily
