Govt urged to decide on Palau issue
LAHAD DATU: The government has been urged to make an immediate decision on the sea gypsies or locally known as Palau community issue in the east coast of Sabah, especially here.
Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCom) chief Executive Officer Noor Alam Khan A Wahid Khan said the government's decision is needed to prevent the issue from getting worse in the future.
Noor Alam said regarding the Palau issue, ESSCom had conducted a study to identify their numbers and are helping the local authorities to tackle this issue.
He said that this issue has also been brought to the state and federal level for appropriate action as we do not want this issue to continue until their numbers start increasing.
“We know that the Palau are not only involved in social issues such as asking for money and scratching people's cars, but are also building houses illegally in our areas.
“This will make it appear that the foreigners are free to do whatever they like in our country,” he said when met, yesterday.
According to Noor Alam, the issue brought to the state and federal level will not stop here and he hopes follow-up actions will be made. However for the time being, ESSCom is awaiting the government's decision.
He said this issue should be taken seriously because if not addressed properly, it is not impossible that one day the Palau could start trespassing into residential areas.
The Palau, he said are also feared to be informers (talibarut) to cross-border criminals and this would threaten national security.
Therefore, he said, appropriate action should be taken to stop this as when they are arrested, they could only be chased back into the water as they do not have documents.
However, they will return here again and the issue will become never ending which will give a bad impact on the people as the locals are uncomfortable and threatened by their presence.
Meanwhile, District Officer, Iman Ali when met yesterday warned the middlemen or any party who manipulated the Palau community to gain sympathy for money to stop their actions.
Iman said it is believed that the middlemen sending and picking up the Palau to collect money around the district were local individuals and he stressed that action could be imposed against them.
He said that the local authority (PBT) has taken action at the district level to address this problem. However, he said some parties had defended the Palau and protested their action.
Therefore, Iman called for the involvement of all parties, especially those with certain jurisdiction to take integrated action against this issue.
“Lahad Datu is developing and is also known as a tourism attraction, the presence of Palau community in this district is tarnishing the image of Lahad Datu.
“Some tourists consider that Malaysia is neglecting this community as they do not know that the Palau community has no documents,” he said.
According to Iman, the Palau community should not be given immunity and strict action should be taken so that this issue can be resolved immediately.
He said that not only are their numbers increasing, but some of them have also dared to show dissatisfaction if they were not given money by scratching the cars and spitting on people.
Iman hopes that any action made by the PBT including the eviction of the community will be supported and not objected to by any parties.
He also added that the PBT will constantly monitor and control the Lahad Datu town areas to ensure that the Palau community will no longer be wandering around begging for money and tarnishing the beauty and image of this area.