Duty of General Operations Force at Pengerang Integrated Complex ends after three years

KOTA TINGGI, Oct 7 — After serving almost three years at the Pengerang Integrated Complex (PIC), the service of the General Operations Force (GOF) officially ended today.

The duty of guarding the security of the area has been fully taken over by Petronas Auxiliary Police to ensure the operation of PIC proceeded smoothly.

The withdrawal ceremony of GOF’s service was conducted today and was witnessed by the Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador.           

Also present were Petronas Refinery and Petrochemical Corporations Sdn Bhd operations head  Hanafi Dewa, Bukit Aman Internal Security and Public Order Department director Datuk Seri Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani as well as GOF 5th Battalion commanding officer Supt Ja’afar Kaimi.

Speaking at the ceremony, Abdul Hamid said the historic assignment of police was made in a strategic collaboration signed on Jan 15 2017 between Royal Malaysian Police (RMP) and PIC, saw 142 officers and men from the 5th Battalion of GOF to carry out security functions, monitoring, patrol and enforcement in PIC.

“With the switch of the baton of authority from 5th GOF Battalion to Petronas Auxiliary Police, it official ended the duty of the 5th Battalion at PIC,” he said.

Abdul Hamid said GOF personnel at PIC were assigned on a three-month rotation which involved the 2nd Battalion from the North Brigade, 4th, 5th and 6th Battalions from the Central Brigade and the 7th, 8th and 9th Battalions from the Southeast Brigade.

“I understand, during the course of GOF duty at PIC, several incidents were reported over unpaid worker salaries by contractors but the situations were successfully handled by GOF personnel,” he said.

According to Abdul Hamid, the harmonious situation and work environment at PIC also resulted in the reduction of GOF officers and personnel from 90 on November 1 2017 before they were further lowered to 53 starting November last year until today.

The decision was in line with the reduction of workers at PIC to 15,000 compared to 64,000 in the initial construction phase of the project. — Bernama