Ex-minister says statement tarnishing his image

SEMPORNA: Former Assistant Finance Minister Datuk Ramlee Marahaban wants the relevant party to re-rectify the fact following an inspection conducted on his boat at Pulau Mataking, on Thursday.

Ramlee said he believed the statement had been distorted and exaggerated, and was tarnishing his image and credibility.

Elaborating on the incident, he said prior to the inspection, he and his son as well as his three family members were heading towards Pulau Mataking to monitor a resort construction project in the area.

He said they also fished at the nearby area and claimed that they had done nothing wrong.

“I often come to monitor the project in the area and before every visit, I will inform the security forces, such as the Semporna police and the Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCom).

“I had no idea that the Angkatan Tugas Bersama 2 (ATB 2) is not synchronized with ESSCom and it did not receive any information on my visit,” he said.

According to Ramlee, the firearm found inside the boat belonged to him and he has a licence to handle it. The firearm is used for protection.

However, he said during the inspection he could not produce the licence and identification documents as they did not bring the documents together as they feared the documents would get wet or drop while on the water.

“But the fact that we came from Sitangkai waters is not true as I had already informed the security forces about our journey from Semporna town to east Pulau Bohayan before going to Pulau Mataking.

“I also provided full cooperation during the inspection and once the Semporna police chief confirmed our journey, which he had been notified earlier, confirmed our identity as well as showing the firearm licence, no arrest or seizure was made,” he said.

Ramlee said he did not know how the information got distorted but he wanted to clarify that the article which had been published and had gone viral was not hundred percent true.

He said the statement portrayed him as an intruder and carrying firearms and coming from Sitangkai.

He therefore wants the party involved to immediately correct their facts as the statement had been misleading and tarnishing his image.

Meanwhile, Semporna police chief Superintendent Peter Umbuas in a statement earlier confirmed that no arrest and seizure had been made.

Peter in the statement stated that Ramlee has a licence to handle firearms and his visit to the areas was for project monitoring on his lands in the areas.

He added that Ramlee and his people were only approaching the border and the misunderstanding was settled upon showing the firearm licence.