Published by The Star

PETALING JAYA: After weeks of shocking reports of rogue guards, some major security companies are calling for an extraordinary general meeting to address the problem.

They said that the Security Services Association of Malaysia (SSAM) had to explain why action was not taken against errant companies that had over 150,000 illegal guards on their payroll.

There are an estimated 400,000 guards employed by 751 companies in the country, of which the SSAM estimated some 30% were illegitimate.

On top of that, large security firms were reported to be sub-contracting their licence to smaller unqualified companies that cut costs by not hiring suitable candidates and not training them adequately.

Industry players said these sub-contractors were dominating the security business as they charged a lower fee for their services.

Chico Force Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Datuk Seri Juniur Khoo was disappointed that the association had not indicated how it was going to address the issue.

“This is the right time for an EGM to address this problem as it is getting out of hand,” he said.

Asian Professional Security Assoc­iation of Malaysia president Datuk Seri Mustapa Ali proposed the setting up of an internal enforcement unit to act against errant companies.

Association president Datuk Shaheen Mirza Habib said an executive committee meeting would be held next week to decide on the calls for an EGM.