Despite the government pledging to improve the the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) instead of setting up an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) the people demand, the EAIC is not getting any significant increase in budget for 2014.
According to the Federal Expenditure Estimate 2014, the EAIC will only receive a marginal budget increase of 7.3 percent, from RM7,200,000 this year to RM7,724,000 next year.
The EAIC's budget pales in comparison with other budget allocations for units under the Prime Minister's Department, such as a whopping RM60.6 million for Biro Tatanegara and RM40 million for TV Al-Hijrah.
In July this year, Deputy Home Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafarnoted that the EAIC faced a shortage of staff and lack of branches in every state and these had to be addressed immediately for it to be effective.
The EAIC oversees a total of 19 agencies. but only has 26 staffmembers.
Following a series of deaths in police custody, the opposition exerted pressure on the government to replace the EAIC, since it also lacks prosecution powers, with an IPCMC.
However, the government shot down the call, saying that it would instead improve on the existing EAIC.
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