KUALA LUMPUR: The Women, Family and Community Development Ministry will continue to push for the formation of a department looking after the welfare of children.
Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri said Cabinet had initially accepted the proposal in principal but rejected it later due to the huge expenditure involved.
“I will push for it again at the Cabinet meeting on Friday, before the re-tabling of Budget 2023.
“This one will be a holistic proposal.
“We may not get everything but it will be a starting point,” she told reporters after visiting the Child Interview Centre (CIC) of Bukit Aman CID Sexual, Women and Child Investigations Division (D11) yesterday.
Nancy said the police force, especially the D11, was in need of the latest equipment and more manpower to curb crimes.
“The D11 needs the latest computer system to investigate cases such as pornography,” she said.
During the visit, Nancy said more focus was put on issues involving children and that the ministry would work closely with the police, particularly on crimes involving women and children.
Bukit Aman CID director Comm Datuk Seri Abd Jalil Hassan, who accompanied the minister on her visit, said plans were underway to set up more CIC.
“There are 14 centres nationwide, or one in each state.
“We aim to have at least two centres in big states such as Sabah and Sarawak,” she said, adding the ideal number of CIC in Sarawak should be three given the vast area of the state.
“Increasing the number of CIC is important to ensure the smoothness of investigations conducted by D11 officers,” said Comm Abd Jalil.
In 2018, the division handled 9,839 cases, followed by 10,126 cases in 2019, 9,407 cases in 2020, 11,482 cases in 2021 and 11,186 cases last year.
Among the cases, rape, child abuse and missing children were among the top on the list.
