Published on: Thursday, January 10, 2013 |
Tawau: The Indonesian Consulate here has advised its citizens not to take risks, like by jumping into the sea, when confronted by Malaysian enforcement authorities wanting to check their personal documents.
Its Vice Consul (Manpower Division), Asrarudin Salam, in issuing the advice, said this is important for their own safety and also to prevent any untoward incident.
He said this in response to a recent incident here which claimed the life of an Indonesian citizen identified as Koko Kahar, 37, who drowned in Sabindo waters off Tawau Port jetty after he jumped into the sea in his attempt to escape from an inspection by the Immigration Department.
Kahar's body was found by the public at 8.25am in the Sabindo waters near the Tawau Port Jetty on Wednesday. Asrarudin said the consulate has identified the victim whose wife in Pindrang, Indonesia, will be informed about the ill-fated incident. The couple have a four-year-old son, he said.
The body was claimed by his family an hour after being found and taken to the Masjid Raya at Jalan Utara before being sent for burial at a Muslim cemetery here.
Meanwhile, State Immigration Department Director Datuk Mohammad Mentek said the Ops 5P inspection carried by the department office here at Tawau Port on Tuesday involved 12 officers and lasted for about one and a half hours from 11am.
Altogether 53 people were screened during the exercise and 17 of them have been detained for immigration-related offences. The detainees were found to have no travel passes and overstayed as well as suspected to be working as labourers at the port. He said 10 of those detained are Indonesians (nine men aged 16-47 and a 45-year-old woman) and seven others are Filipinos (six men aged 19-41 and a 52-year-old woman).
Meanwhile, District Police Chief, ACP Awang Besar Dullah advised local employees against employing foreign workers without documents to prevent legal action from being taken against them.
"Employing foreign workers without proper documents is an offence under Section 55B of the Immigration Act," he said.
The Act, he said, carries a penalty of up to RM50,000 or jail of up to 12 months or both for each worker employed.
