BINTULU: Police uniforms were very much on the mind of Bintulu MP Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing yesterday. Do the men in blue have enough uniforms? What about the quality?

Answers to these questions and some others were what Tiong tried to get yesterday in parliament.

Then to The Borneo Post after the session, he said he had heard complaints about the uniforms, and he feared that if the complaints had basis, the situation could erode the morale of the force.

He said he wanted an answer from Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar because he was concerned about the matter.

He hoped it would be checked because tailoring allowances were given to the police.

“I have also learnt that there was insufficient supply of stationery for the force.”

He said the complaints also directly pointed to the insufficient supply of belts, shoes and other items, and in some cases, junior police officers were told their uniforms were out of stock.

On complaints about the poor quality of uniforms, he said contractors were reluctant to supply them due to outstanding payments.

Tiong said the minister did not give a direct reply in parliament yesterday, but he (Syed Hamid) assured that he would probe for answers.

The minister said there was a contract binding over such supplies and the contractors must keep them coming in accordance with the specific terms.

Earlier, Tiong said he also asked about allocations for maintenance and upgrading.

Syed Hamid told the house that over RM309 million had been given out this year. Of this, RM209 million was for maintenance and RM100 million for repair of buildings.

He said RM 1.5 million had also been given out for the upgrading of the police administration department under their ‘one-off’ policy.

He said the allocation was channeled through their logistics department and Bukit Aman would watch over this to ensure it was well spent.