KUALA LUMPUR: Outgoing Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador today vented his frustration on politicians whom he claimed had interfered with the police's role in combating the Covid-19 pandemic.
The country's 12th top cop cited the case of the strict roadblocks conducted by the police during the Movement Control Order (MCO) to control people's movement as part of efforts to curb the spread of the virus.
"We are still dealing with Covid-19. And when the police is serious in combating the spread of the virus through tightening of enforcement, there are quarters (among politicians) who wanted to score political points and asked us to relax the enforcement at road blocks.
"This has made our duties challenging. How can the police differentiate between 'ikan kembung' and 'ikan bilis' when there are thousands of fishes in the sea. If all of them get caught in the net (then all will be inspected).
"That is the case with roadblocks that were mounted as an effort to reduce the transmission of the virus. Police will check vehicles (of those who pass through the roadblocks) and this will result in a delay (long queues of vehicles at roadblocks)," he told reporters here today.
The police relented when there were calls for the men in blue to relax the enforcement and not be strict when conducting checks at roadblocks.
"I was told to relax ( enforcement at roadblocks). And now, you see the emergence of many Covid-19 clusters.
"What I fear the most is that cases will continue to surge above the 3,000-mark as warned by (Health director-general Tan Sri) Dr Noor Hisham (Abdullah)," he said.