After eight months and two royal commissions, the police force has not made a single report or announcement on the status of the 133 recommendations or their implementation.

This has miffed Parliamentary Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang, who describes it as scandalous that the Royal Malaysian Police has only given "lip-service reception" to the recommendations.

Their only expression of support has been to those recommendations relating to the "upgrading of logistics, manpower, housing and training," said the DAP MP for Ipoh Timur in a statement today.

This is reflected in the continued police resistence to the establishment of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) as recommended by the Royal Police Commission eight months ago, added Lim.

'Watered-down version'

He was referring to an Utusan Malaysia report yesterday quoting a source that three police organisations, in a meeting with Inspector General of Police Mohd Bakri Omar, had expressed reservations to the setting-up of the watchdog.

The report also quoted the source as saying that unless such a body served as a watchdog to other enforcement agencies such as the transport, customs, and immigration departments, IPCMC may have the effect of unfairly exposing the police force to scrutiny and demoralising its officers.

Responding to this, Lim said such statements raised the question as to whether the authorities were serious about producing an effective and exemplary IPCMC that could be the model for other countries or a 'watered-down version with very limited powers and impact.'

"If the police accepts the challenge of the Royal Commission to be a clean, efficient, professional world-class police service, it should immediately release a report to the people and nation on the current status of implementation of the (...) recommendations," he said.

Lim said DAP parliamentarians will seek a meeting with Mohd Bakri and his deputy Musa Hassan to discuss this issue after the Chinese New Year celebrations.