No need to go public – CM
KOTA KINABALU: It is not necessary for the State government to go public with all what it is doing in the matter of security, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman said.
Musa, who is also the State Security Council chief, said the government conducted daily operations to weed out illegal immigrants in the state.
“We are also working together with the Indonesian and Philippines governments in terms of exchanging intelligence on wanted criminals in our respective countries. The cooperation exists and we do not publicise (what we are doing) because it involves intelligence gathering and security.
“We do not need to tell what had happened. There have been arrests and shots have been fired. So far, a few of them have been caught and a few of them killed,” Musa told the State Legislative Assembly yesterday.
He was replying to Bingkor assemblyman Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan who wanted to know what steps are being taken to ensure that the state’s security is protected against foreign threats who are already in Sabah illegally or through some other means.
Musa disclosed that the State government’s Ops Sepadu to weed out illegal immigrants is an everyday affair and it is also deporting those arrested on a regular basis.
“The only problem we have is the delay by the Philippines government in accepting their nationals that we are deporting. We do not have a problem with the Indonesian government as it is very prompt.
“With the ongoing Ops Sepadu, our temporary detention centres are always full with illegal immigrants. We are asking the Philippines government to expedite the process of accepting their nationals that we are deporting,” he said.
On Jeffrey’s question as to whether the government plans to lift the barter trade ban, Musa said the ban was imposed over fears that individuals with vested interest on the pretext of barter trade, would smuggle contraband into the state.
“We do not know what their cargo is and sometimes they can smuggle arms and other things. Now, we are very strict and we check every vessel that comes in and out of Sabah to ensure that they are not transporting illegal things,” he said.
Earlier, in reply to Bongawan assemblyman Datuk Mohamad Alamin’s question on the Eastern Sabah Security Command’s (ESSCom) long-term and shortterm plans to prevent those fleeing the conflict in Marawi, Southern Philippines from entering the state, Musa said the situation was under control.
“According to the latest report from the Philippines security forces, 458 militants, 109 of its security forces and 45 civilians were killed in the unrest. At the same time 300,000 residents of Marawi have fled the town.
“The conflict is ongoing and the Philippines government is now hunting at least 60 militants in a one-kilometre square area and has seized 500 firearms,” he said.
Musa informed the House that ESSCom had increased its patrolling at the border and had also implemented coordinated patrolling with security forces from the Philippines.
ESSCom has also increased its monitoring and operations in the Eastern Sabah Security Zone (ESSZone) in areas suspected as entry and landing points of illegal immigrants as well as tightening entry and exit checks at all gazetted areas such as airports and ports in ESSZone.
Since the conflict in Marawi started, ESSCom has carried out 6,188 checks and made 232 arrests during the integrated operations on the land areas of ESSZone. ESSCom has also made arrests at sea and also enforced the curfew in ESSZone from May to June 2017.
Other than that, the government through ESSCom has also taken long-term steps by establishing the Trilateral Cooperative Agreement (TCA) with Indonesia and the Philippines to resolve security issues along their borders.
Through the TCA, all three countries agree to set up a high level committee between Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines to look at a three-way cooperation to resolve security issues at the borders of the three countries.
“An integrated information centre, including an exchange program of officers, have been done to increase maritime domain awareness in the exchange of information between countries,” he said, adding that the three countries are also conducting scheduled training to build interoperability as well as intensifying the intelligence cooperation among each other.
According to Musa, on June 19 this year, the government set up its Maritime Command Centre (MCC) in Bongao, Philippines, Tarakan Indonesia and Tawau. The three centres function as data collection and coordination control centres for the three countries in efforts to increase security in the waters where they are located.
At the same time, the Malaysian Armed Forces has implemented several aggressive approaches on the issue of controlling the border at Sabah’s east coast, among which are to increase the navy’s assets to six ships which are operating in the Ops Pasir area, optimising the operations of three sea basing, namely, Bunga Mas 5 at Kudat waters, Tun Azizan auxiliary ship near Pulau Taganak and Tun Sharifah Rodziah platform near Bohay Dulang.
The number of navy assault boats has also been increased and the installation of 13 radars all the way from Kudat to Pulau Danawan, he said, adding that the cameras are focused on the Malaysia-Philippines border.
The observation camera on the radars were upgraded in May and can now provide clear photographs of any vessels crossing the border, he said.
Musa also said that other than stationing soldiers on islands in the area, members of the Quick Reaction Force (QRF) as well as assault vessels are placed in strategic locations to cut off, check and detain any boats that are passing through the Malaysia-Philippines border.
“The Maritime Command Centre (MCC) is a newly formed organization and will coordinate the movements of vessels in Sabah’s east coast, especially in the Sulu Sea and Sulawesi Sea in order to prevent piracy or kidnapping there,” he said, adding that MCC started operating on June 19 2017.