Malaysia’s new border control agency faces operational hurdles, lacking its own officers and facilities while depending on legacy departments for resources.
PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia’s border control agency is still operating without its own officers, infrastructure or quarters, leaving it dependent on legacy agencies and limiting its operational autonomy, according to MCBA director-general Datuk Seri Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain.
He said MCBA continues to rely on shared manpower and facilities as its institutional transition remains incomplete.
“We don’t even have our own officers yet. You go to the next office, there’s no dedicated MCBA office. You go to Kuantan Port, there are no officers assigned under MCBA. So we are sharing.
“We are at the behest of other agencies, still dependent on them operationally.”
Shuhaily said manpower, posts and physical infrastructure at entry points remain tied to existing departmental structures, making it difficult to enforce a unified command system.
“They are still under their old departments. They still report back to their own agencies. So I can’t fully impose our system.”
He said officer welfare, housing and service benefits must be preserved during the unified command system transition.
“Some of them are already staying in government quarters under their original departments. We have to make sure those perks remain.
“For MCBA, if we want to build new quarters, we don’t have the money yet. So other agencies have to share assets with us until the time is right.”
Shuhaily said reforming entrenched enforcement habits would be a major challenge.
“When something goes on for too long, it becomes culture. That is why we must rebuild discipline first,” he said.
He added that he was inheriting long-standing operational issues and problematic personnel.
“They are sending me the same people to solve the same old problems. I’m inheriting all this. That’s my challenge.
“If they stop, that’s good. If they continue and get caught, that’s good for me too, because then I can remove them and bring in new people.”
He said MCBA was working with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission as part of its integrity reforms and stressed that his focus was institutional rather than personal ambition.
“I don’t have ambition to become anybody big. I just want to do the right thing,” he said.
