KOTA BELUD, March 10 (Bernama) -- Integrated operations will be conducted with several enforcement agencies to curb the sale of smuggled cigarettes, following an incident in which a Sandakan Municipal Council (MPS) enforcement officer was assaulted recently.
Sabah Assistant Minister of Local Government and Housing Datuk Fairuz Renddan said the operations would involve the police, the Royal Malaysian Customs Department, Immigration Department and the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living (KPDN).
He said the recent incident in Sandakan, where a civil servant was openly assaulted, is something that cannot be tolerated, and that the state government took a serious view of the matter.
"We have a constitution, we have enforcement… don't be defiant. We will try to eliminate these cultures in Sabah,” he told reporters after the engagement session on the development of the state's paddy industry here today.
Fairuz, who is also the Pintasan state assemblyman, said the integrated operations would be conducted soon, but the actual implementation dates would not be divulged to ensure the operations' effectiveness.
Meanwhile, he said the state government is studying efforts to strengthen enforcement, including increasing the capability of local authority enforcement personnel.
He added that he would discuss the matter with his Minister, Datuk Dr Mohd Arifin Mohd Arif, to find suitable ways to assist enforcement personnel in carrying out their duties.
Fairuz said the enforcement officer, who was assaulted, is in stable condition but still suffering from trauma, adding that police have arrested four suspects in connection with the incident, including a minor.
He also advised the public not to resort to violence against enforcement personnel.
The media reported that, on Friday (March 6), an MPS enforcement officer, while conducting a patrol with a colleague, was assaulted by a group of men when he reprimanded a man suspected of selling illicit cigarettes openly at the Batu 8 market in Sandakan.
A video clip of the incident has since gone viral on social media.
-- BERNAMA
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