Barter suspension due to smuggling
Published on: Tuesday, April 19, 2016
Kota Kinabalu: Finance Assistant Minister Datuk Ramlee Marabahan said the decision to suspend barter trade in the east coast areas namely, Sandakan, Lahad Datu and Tawau is largely due to high probability of smuggling. "There had been instances of smuggling such subsidised gas cylinders…it is still happening. "However, whether the suspension will continue will depend on the decision of the Government along with the National Security Council's recommendations," he said, in the State Assembly, Monday.
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Ramlee said this in response to a question from Sri Tanjong Assemblyman Chan Foong Hin (DAP) on whether barter trade activities between Tawau and Indonesia would be excluded from the suspension as it has affected the export of fish supplies there. However, he maintained the ban on barter trade especially in the East Coast of Sabah is to facilitate security personnel to carry out border enforcement. Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman announced the suspension of barter trade between Sabah and neighbouring countries after four Malaysian sailors were kidnapped by Filipino gunmen believed to be Abu Sayyaf on April 6. The hostages – two brothers Wong Teck Chii, 29 and Wong Teck Kang, 31; and their cousins Johnny Lau Jung Hien, 21 and Wong Hung Sing, 34 – were abducted after eight gunmen stormed a tugboat they were travelling in in Ligitan waters off Sabah, on April 1.
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Following the incident, Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Abdul Rashid Harun said kidnap-for-ransom groups had shifted their focus to water borders and are now targeting slow moving vehicles due to Eastern Sabah Security Command's tight security. "Apart from the stringent process to allow barter trade, tight security screening was carried out by the National Security Council before permits were issued to traders," said Ramlee.
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"Furthermore the ships used by the traders are equipped with an automatic identification system transponder so the journey can be tracked," he said. For the year 2015 to 2016 he said only two barter trade companies had been given permission one in Sandakan and another in Kudat. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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