Support for Volunteers who are Abused on The Job
Ministry of Sustainability and the EnvironmentSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns the safety and support provided to the 350 active individuals in the Community Volunteer programme, as raised by Mr Zainal Sapari. Minister Masagos Zulkifli B M M explained that volunteers are legally protected as public servants and are trained to disengage from abusive situations and report them to the authorities. He noted that there are currently no plans to equip volunteers with body-worn cameras since most offenders respond positively to educational advice. However, the National Environment Agency may charge abusive offenders in Court for obstruction of duty to provide a deterrent against such misconduct. This legal framework ensures that volunteers are protected while exercising their powers to request particulars from environmental offenders.
Transcript
47 Mr Zainal Sapari asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (a) what the current number of active individuals in the Community Volunteer Programme is; (b) what support is given to them should they be verbally or physically abused by members of the public while carrying out their duties; and (c) whether NEA can equip these volunteers with body cameras to record their interactions with the public.
Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: The National Environment Agency (NEA) launched the Community Volunteer (CV) programme in 2013 to foster greater ownership of the environment. There are currently about 350 active individuals in the CV programme.
The primary role of CVs is to educate environmental offenders to stop the offending acts and encourage greater ownership of the environment. To enable the CVs to perform their role more effectively, they are empowered to request the particulars of offenders who fail to heed their advice. The particulars are sent to NEA for follow-up action. Given that the vast majority of the offenders had responded positively to the advice of CVs, such as by picking up their litter and no further action was taken against them, there are currently no plans to equip CVs with body-worn cameras. Nevertheless, the CVs are trained to disengage from any abusive offenders.
Under the law, our CVs are considered public servants when exercising powers of enforcement. This makes it an offence for anyone to exhibit any indecent, threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour towards a CV in the execution of his duty. It is also an offence for anyone to assault or use criminal force to prevent or deter a CV from discharging his duty. CVs who face verbal or physical abuse in the course of their duty should seek the assistance of the Police and inform NEA of the incident.
Depending on the outcome of NEA's investigations, NEA may charge the offender in Court for obstruction of duty, in addition to the principal offence, to send a deterrent message that such behaviour will not be condoned.