Rela is not just for handling street protests, says Hishammuddin

There is worry Rela members will be used as phantom voters in GE

KUALA LUMPUR - Rela (People's Volunteer Corps) members were not just meant for handling street demonstrations, said Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein.

In fact, he said, Rela members were trained mainly to help curb crime as outlined in the National Key Result Area.

"To date, 3,663 Rela members have been recruited to assist the Royal Malaysian Police for this purpose," he said in reply to a supplementary question from Datuk Seri Abdul Ghapur Salleh (BN-Kalabakan) in the Dewan Rakyat on Wednesday.

Abdul Ghapur had asked why Rela was not allowed to assist the government in facing street demonstrations and on their lack of involvement in ensuring public safety, especially in rural areas.

To the original question from Datuk Johari Abdul (PKR-Sungai Petani), Hishammuddin said his ministry was focusing more on strengthening Rela including reviewing its concept, direction and training programme before announcing the outcome next year.

He said at the moment, all Rela members were required to attend a number of courses, including the one-day induction course at the district level and seven-day basic course, which was organised by the Rela centres throughout the country.

'There are also extension courses like the platoon heads' course, liaison chiefs' course at the mukim level, arms management course and other courses conducted from time to time," he said.

-- BERNAMA