Eaic Deeply Disappointed Mmea Failed To Follow Recommendations

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EAIC said it had recommended that the commanding officer be demoted or dismissed, but instead MMEA had just imposed a fine on its senior officer. (MMEA pic)
PETALING JAYA: The Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) says it is “deeply disappointed” that a Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) disciplinary body did not heed its recommendations on punishments for several MMEA officers for misconduct.
Set up in 2011, EAIC is a federal statutory body tasked with investigating and conducting hearings into complaints against some 20 enforcement agencies.
In a statement today, EAIC said it conducted an investigation following the circulation of a video showing a fishing boat operated by Vietnamese crew members tethered to an MMEA vessel in the waters off Kelantan on July 7, 2023.
EAIC said its investigation found misconduct by the commanding officer and others on the vessel as the fishing boat was tethered to it for about eight hours without permission.
It said the vessel was found to have submitted false position, heading and speed reports to the maritime operational command. It also submitted situation reports containing inaccurate information.
EAIC also said the search form issued by the MMEA vessel contained false details regarding the inspection carried out on the boat.
The members of the vessel were also found to have been involved in fishing and squid jigging, which EAIC said created a “negative perception and tarnished their image”.
EAIC said the vessel also did not lodge any report regarding a shooting which occurred when it was chasing a Vietnamese fishing boat in a separate incident five days later.
EAIC recommended that the officers face disciplinary action under the Civil Servants (Conduct and Discipline) Regulations 1993, with the commanding officer to be demoted or dismissed.
Instead, it said, MMEA informed it on Jan 15 that it had decided to impose a fine equivalent to a week’s salary on the vessel’s commanding officer, with the others on the vessel found not to have conducted misconduct as they had acted under the orders of the commanding officer.
“EAIC is deeply disappointed with the MMEA disciplinary authority’s decision,” it said.
“EAIC believes the imposed punishment is excessively lenient compared to the misconduct committed by the commanding officer, officers and members of the MMEA vessel — which did not reflect integrity when conducting duties.” - FMT

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