KUCHING: The Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) has recorded a downward trend in disciplinary actions taken against firefighters nationwide.
Its director-general Datuk Nor Hisham Mohammad said that this is pleasing news for the department’s top administration, aside from a notable decline in complaints related to integrity among firefighters.
“In 2021, 63 officers were involved in disciplinary issues that we have addressed. In 2022, the figure dropped to 39, and in 2023, it decreased further to 36 officers.
“Currently, although there are cases, it has shown a downward trend because in the first half of the year, we have only recorded 13 officers involved in disciplinary issues.
“With that said, I would like to emphasise that the department is very serious on the issue of integrity and we will continue to hold various programme to address this,” he said after officiating at the department’s 11th Bicara Governance, Integrity and Anti-Corruption (BiGIAR) at the Islamic Information Centre here yesterday (June 11).
A total of 430 participants from the department, government departments and the private sector attended the one-day programme, which include sessions from the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Sarawak and the Sarawak Integrity and Ombudsman Unit (UNIONS), followed by a question-and-answer session.
He pointed out that they will continue to organise the BiGIAR programme in the coming years and fully implement the accountability and integrity control system (SKAI) and the Anti -Corruption Plan.
Last year, the department set a target for every state to implement at least 20 key programmes related to the integrity.
“We will then assess each state’s overall integrity programme every six months, which will be presented at the highest management level.
“From there, we will identify which states have yet to implement this programme and instruct them to do so. This is for us to ensure that issues related to integrity as well as good governance among civil servants, especially firefighters, can be strengthened,” he said.
Nor Hisham said the department will continue to enforce the anti-bribery management system (ABMS) and extend it into the law enforcement and plan management areas.
Also present were Bomba Integrity Unit chief Syed Azman Syed Ghazali and Acting Sarawak Bomba director Tiong Ling Hii.
