Nine probed over Sabah kidnappings

Nine probed over Sabah kidnappings

KOTA KINABALU - The use of high-tech radars on islands off Sabah and surveillance vessels can help strengthen security in Eastern Sabah Safety Zone (Esszone) to track down and combat intruders and abductors in Sabah waters, said a lecturer.

Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) Unit for Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System (CerGIS) head Mustapha Abd Talip said the use of radars was one of the best choices in enhancing surveillance in Sabah waters due to the state's vast coastline.

Mustapha said the porous border with Kalimantan also posed a major problem to the authorities in curbing smug gling, human trafficking and cross-border crimes.

"Although ESScom (Eastern Sabah Security Command) has managed to stem the second wave of terrorist intrusion, but its ability in combating abductions is still fragile.

"So the use of radars on islands off Sabah and unmanned aerial vehicles to detect abductors, apart from beefing up assets and personnel, can help bring the situation under control," he said, adding that three kidnappings in past six months were a valuable lesson to ESSCom.

In the incidents, a Taiwanese was killed while his girlfriend was kidnapped from Pulau Pom Pom off Semporna on Nov 15 last year.

After a lull, two women, a Chinese student and a resort worker, were abducted from a resort in Semporna on April 2, and four days later, a Chinese manager was taken from a fish farm at Pulau Baik off Lahad Datu.

"The abductors seem to know the waters very well. They had done their homework and just waited for us to be off guard before they struck. But armed with sophisticated assets, including radars, we can beat them," he said.

Meanwhile, UMS international relations lecturer Assoc Prof Dr Asmady Idris said Sabah was vulnerable to threats of abduction due to its geographical topography as ESSZone covered 10 districts along a stretch of 1,400 km on the Sabah east coast.

"But this does not mean that abduction is a norm and the state's security is threatened," he added.

Meanwhile, Kristy Inus reports in Kota Kinabalu that Sabah Umno Puteri was disappointed with MCA Youth chief Chong Sin Woon's statement, which they deemed as in appropriate and not in the spirit of Barisan Nasional.

Joining several Sabah leaders' sentiments previously, Sabah Umno Puteri chief Normala Rasick said as a BN component party leader, Chong should be aware why East ern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) was formed to manage Sabah's east coast waters.

"Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman has announced nine drastic measures to increase security at our waters while Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zahid Hamidi announced additional five steps including getting local vessels registered to differentiate with foreign vessels.

"Chong should not have made that statement when ev eryone else is busy making efforts to overcome the issue of intrusion, kidnapping and various security aspects in Sabah's east coast.

"He should understand the limitations faced by the Esscom team and the action to condemn them only reflected that he failed to understand the government's aspiration in forming the team or understanding the stumbling blocks faced by Esscom," said Normala.

Chong in a local daily on Saturday was quoted saying the party felt Esscom should be shut down due to its in effectiveness and that the National Security State Umno liaison committee deputy chief Datuk Seri Dr Salleh Said Keruak condemned his statement, saying he should not belittle government's efforts and seriousness in safeguarding Sabah through Esscom.

State Umno liaison assistant secretary Datuk Masidi Man jun who is also State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister, said security issue in Sabah was of grave concern to everyone and should not be used as a political tool by anyone.

"He (Chong) has just visited Sabah several times so do not act (like he knows everything) ... Everyone concerned are working hard towards enhancing the security at Sabah's waters but various challenges like a long coastline hindered the issue from being solved in such a short time," stressed Normala.

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