More assets for MMEA's air wing
Published on: Saturday, July 16, 2016
Kota Kinabalu: The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) aims to further boost its security enforcement with more assets expected to be acquired soon for its air wing. "At the moment, we have six helicopters and two fixed wing aircraft to saddle the responsibility to look after our waters not only in Sabah and Sarawak, but also in the peninsula," said Director-General Maritime Admiral Datuk Ahmad Puzi AB Kahar on Friday.He said this when officiating at the training programme for MMEA's four cadet pilots selected to undergo an 18-month training at the Layang-Layang Helicopter Academy Sdn Bhd here.
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"We have plans until 2040, we believe that the number of aircraft and helicopters needs to double, but again it depends on the government's capabilities, because not only do we need aircraft, but we are also in the process of buying ships," he said. "We need more air assets and the government is aware of that, thus we have six new vessels coming and three bigger vessels are in the pipeline for next year, and this will actually need a lot of budget from the government. "We have to consider that this is just for our agency, what about other departments, what about the needs of the armed forces, the police as well as education and health, all these must be also be acknowledged," he said. "Thus, I thank the government for allocating RM1.3 billion to us this year and for the next year, for us to buy new vessels," he added.
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"Our plans is to station a squadron here, we are in the process of negotiating a piece of land to develop our air station which will not only include our helicopters but also fixed wing aircraft. "But again, it depends on the government budget, but Sabah is definitely among our priorities," he said.
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"We did ask for our air station to be in Kota Kinabalu, but since we can't find a good location here, we have shifted to Labuan where the air force base is. "But towards the end, it is always serving the State, the country and the people, our priority is the people's safety, the economic progress of the country must be protected."The oil and gas industry must go on, fishing industry also must be contained as much as possible, likewise tourism industry, so that is another consideration that must be considered, but we have a lot of other resources that have potential in our waters," he said. He also said the two radar stations are also in the pipeline for the Straits of Melaka namely Pulau Jarak and Pulau Perak, to strengthen the existing 12 MMEA radar stations in the Straits of Melaka and the Singapore Straits. "At the same time we have three radar stations in Sabah as well as two mobile radars," he said. He said the MMEA has also established a Search and Rescue Coordination Centre and Search and Rescue Sub Centres. "We can see the safety and security of waters in the Straits and the South China Sea, has tremendously developed with more than 77,000 trading ships recorded crossing our waters last year. "Incidents of piracy and sea robberies in the Straits of Melaka are now history, because we are able to ensure the Straits are safe, we also have cooperation from our neighbours and of course agencies in the country as well as the people. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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