Serian in dire need of stronger GOF presence – Riot

KUCHING: Serian Division needs more General Operations Force (GOF) personnel to beef up border control, says Serian MP Dato Sri Richard Riot.

Riot in his speech in parliament on Monday evening suggested that the manpower strength at the Bunan Gega GOF border post be increased to a platoon level or at least 42 personnel while a small border post should also be built in Mongkos.

He said the current one GOF section or12 personnel was not enough to complement the GOF strength in Tebedu to control the long MalaysiaIndonesia land border.

“The current strength of 12 personnel is not enough due to the many ‘jalan tikus’ (rat trails) along the border, with some of them already becoming ‘ jalan gajah’ (illegal crossborder road). Therefore, I request that the Home Ministry increase the manpower strength to a platoon.

“I also want the government to consider building a small border post in Mongkos,” he said when participating in the 2021 Budget committee level debate for the Home Ministry at parliament in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

On a related matter, Riot called on the government to expedite the upgrading of the Customs, Immigrations, Quarantine and Security (CIQS) complex in Tebedu.

He said the people of Serian had been hoping for the facility to be upgraded after Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin visited Tebedu on July 17.

“The present facility was built in the 1980s, and it is now very dilapidated. Its capacity is small, what more when there is increased movement of people, good and vehicles after Indonesia moves its capital city from Jakarta to Borneo soon,” he said, adding that he had brought the Tebedu CIQS issue at parliament several times already.