Fed-up Sabah MPs demand answers
Published on: Thursday, May 21, 2015
Kuala Lumpur: Barisan Nasional (BN) Members of Parliament from Sabah reprimanded Putrajaya Wednesday after yet another abduction occurred in the state last week despite heightened security measures, during an emergency motion to debate the matter in Parliament.They demanded explanation on several matters, primarily on the security flaws in the Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) as well as an account of the RM660 million spent for the initiative.Tenom MP Datuk Raime Unggi who tabled the motion said Sabahans are "fed up" with Putrajaya's assurance of tightened security in the state when abductions continued to take place, and demanded to know the status of security assets deployed for Esscom.
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"Speedboats and a Blackhawk (helicopter) were deployed to look after Eastern Sabah Security Zone (Esszone)... what happened to these assets? That is the big question," Raime said urging the Federal Government to "think out of the box" in tackling the matter.Tuaran MP Datuk Madius Tangau demanded Putrajaya to show how it spent the RM660 million it allocated to improve security in Sabah's east coast.Madius also criticised Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar's proposal two days ago to ban barter trade in the state as southern Filipino gunmen involved in the abductions were capitalising on the situation to sneak in on the pretext of exchanging goods.
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Labelling it a "knee-jerk" reaction, Madius said that this will hurt many economic activities in Sabah that rely on the trade.Security forces continue to be criticised over the armed intrusions in Sabah over the years.
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The latest kidnapping occurred in Sandakan last Thursday, when four armed men raided the popular Ocean King Seafood Restaurant and took away a man and a woman.Restaurant manager and co-owner Thien Nyuk Fun, 50, and patron Bernard Then Ted Fen, 39 were abducted during peak dinner hours are now believed to be held on a southern Philippines island while their kidnappers have demanded a "very large" ransom.Kinabatangan MP Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin said he is spooked by the latest kidnapping."We don't want a mere assurance. Promises must be kept. Will there be more kidnappings here on? What is the cause for the government not being able to prevent these incidents from happening?"I want to do my job as an MP and it requires me to travel by boat sometimes. I am scared for my safety. Thank goodness there were no MPs eating in that restaurant that day. Surely they would have been abducted," Bung added."To me, Esscom has failed in carrying out its duties. It must be reviewed, otherwise the people will definitely lose their confidence. I don't want any more promises, I want the promises to be fulfilled," he said.Sibuti MP Ahmad Lai Bujang reminded the government that it needs to beef up enforcement as Sabah waters also house many oil rig operations which generate income for the country."These are our country's assets," he added.Datuk Marcus Mojigoh (BN-Putatan) said there was no clear coordination between the security forces in Sabah, adding that the public was unclear who actually was in charge of securing the state's porous borders."Where are all the assets that Esscom purchased? Even the Sabah Chief Minister is asking where it is," he added."We proposed that the surveillance be equipped with a drone, but they said they already have one. Now we are asking, have you even received the drone?"Sandakan MP Stephen Wong (DAP-Sandakan) said his constituents felt unsafe and could not understand how the kidnapping could have taken place, given all the security forces near the area.Stephen said the people did not want to hear statements from leaders that Sabah was safe, especially since kidnappings occur once a year."Leaders should focus on ensuring Sabah is safe."He slammed the security forces for failing to defend the sovereignty of the people.He singled out the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM), Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (APMM), and Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom), describing them as "toothless tigers"."The PDRM, APMM, Esscom and other security and defence teams seem like toothless tigers as they have failed us," he said.He said Sabah's defence was ineffective when kidnappers still managed to slip through their borders with relative ease despite a curfew having been imposed during that period.Wong also expressed his disappointment on what he considered an insensitive statement, made by the Commander of Esscom, who maintained that Sabah was still safe and that kidnappings were a rarity."These statements imply an irresponsible and arrogant attitude by our leaders as it seems as though they are trying to avoid the blame."He said the Government needed to be more aggressive in tackling threats of kidnappings and added, "Don't allow these groups of terrorists to challenge the sovereign status of Sabah and our defence force."Additionally, Malaysia also needed to resolve the issue of Sabah's sovereign status, more so since the President of the Philippines had already warned that certain parties would persist in trying to reclaim Sabah as theirs.In his response, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim admitted that some of the assets Putrajaya commissioned, such as the ships and boats, had yet to materialise as they were still being built."After the government approves the allocation, we can't get the assets immediately. The boats and ships must be built first," he said, adding that Putrajaya would consider buying ready-built boats in the future.He also clarified that only RM69.9 million of the RM660 million allocation went to Esscom, with RM13 million used for management and another RM48.9 million for development.The remainder was channelled to other security forces such as the police, the military and the navy, he said.However, Shahidan said he could not explain why the kidnapping was able to take place in navy patrolled areas, as the authorities were still preparing their reports.There have been several cases of kidnapping for ransom in Sabah in the last few years.In 2013, a Taiwanese woman was kidnapped while her husband was killed in Sipadan.In April last year, a tourist from China and a Filipina hotel staff in Semporna were also abducted.In June last year, a fish breeder and his Filipino worker were taken by kidnappers.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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