Joint maritime patrols in Sulu Sea ‘will improve security’

KOTA KINABALU: An agreement on joint maritime patrols sealed by Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines will have a positive impact on regional security.

The #SuluSeas Indomalphi Trilateral Maritime Patrol (TMP) agreed upon by the three countries in Tarakan, North Kalimantan recently will see a more effective approach in managing threats in the Sulu Sea.

The initiative on Monday was signed by Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, Indonesia’s Defence Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu and the Philippines’ Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana.

Former deputy inspector-general of police Tan Sri Mohd Bakri Zinin said the Maritime Command Centres would streamline actions in the waters of the three nations

“We now have a proper channel and it is good for Asean countries to join together to fight terrorism,” said Bakri, who hails from Sabah and retired in September 2014, adding that the full impact might only be seen in the coming years.

Former Sabah police commissioner Datuk Hamza Taib said the move would boost the security of the 1,733km-long Eastern Sabah Safety Zone coastline.

“I believe an indepth study had been conducted before the initiative materialised to ensure evnap-for-ransom ery aspect is looked into,” said Hamza, who oversaw the state’s security during the 2013 Lahad Datu intrusion.

He retired in March last year.

Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) politics and international relations expert Associate Professor Dr Lai Yew Meng said the initiative was welcomed as the so-called “triborder” maritime region had long been considered a hotbed for the proliferation of non-traditional security threats, like terrorism, kid- and other crossborder crimes.

“It is often a lawless region due to the absence of sustained and coordinated joint law enforcement between the neighbouring states, possibly the result of unresolved maritime-territorial issues involving these Asean neighbours.

“The long-awaited establishment of the TMP in the Sulu Sea/triborder region is the first credible and comprehensive effort to jointly secure the area, and is somewhat similar to previous efforts by Malaysia and Indonesia to establish the Malindo Corpat (Malaysia-Indonesia Coordinated Patrol) as well as the Malsindo Corpat by Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore to combat piracy and other cross-border maritime threats in the Straits of Malacca.

“With the growing security challenges emanating from the Islamic State and its ‘regional agents’ in the guise of disparate local terror groups, namely Abu Sayyaf, Maute or Jemaah Islamiah, there is a vital need for coordinated maritime and aerial surveillance or patrols as well as intelligence sharing between the three states, which the TMP aims to realise,” he said.

Lai said it was still premature to measure the extent to which this new trilateral security effort to manage or neutralise such existential threat would be successful, since it has just only been launched.

“That said, the political will that the three nations demonstrated to cooperate and jointly address this growing threat is a concrete step in the right direction,” Lai said.

We now have a proper channel and it is good for Asean countries to join together to fight terrorism. TAN SRI MOHD BAKRI ZININ Former deputy IGP