It may be Balung next, says assemblyman

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TAWAU: Sri Tanjong assemblyman Chan Foong Hin yesterday said the government should take full responsibility for the repeating kidnapping cases in Eastern Sabah Security Zone (ESSZone) despite measures taken to tighten security there.

Chan who is also the Democratic Action party (DAP) Sabah vice chairman, said the latest kidnapping of a fish farm operator and a Filipino worker at Kampung Air Sapang, Kunak, yesterday was just a repeat of similar cases, regardless whatever assurance given and actions taken by Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCom).

“In April, we have a kidnapping case of a Chinese tourist in Semporna. In May, there is another abduction case in Silam, Lahad Datu. Now in June, we have the latest incident took place in Kunak. So, would another kidnapping case happen in Balung, Tawau in short future, for instance, July?” asked Chan.

He also questioned the State Government’s ability in protecting the security and sovereignty of the people in the ESSZone area.

“I am not belittling any sacrifice and contribution of the security personnel in ensuring peace and taking care of security under ESSCom. But the never ending repeating abduction cases really show that the ESSCom set-up is problematic. Therefore, DAP Sabah is calling for the shut down of the inefficient and ineffective organization,” he said.

Chan added there is no more excuse to justify the weakness and leakages of ESSCom security control.

He said tourism remains the business sector adversely affected by the failure of ESSCon. Not only that, aquacultural activities also face the security challenge now as the recent two cases happened at fish farms.

Chan said earlier in May, DAP had submitted a memorandum pertaining to improvement of security of ESSZone to the Chief Minister. Among the highlighted recommendations from the party is ESSCom shall be replaced by a new joint command, which is chaired by a senior police officer, as the issue is pertaining to internal security matter.

Furthermore, the new joint cmmand must be designed in a way that is able to resolve the overlapping jurisdiction among all related authorities, namely Joint Task Force 2, army, navy, police and other relevant forces.

Other recommendations highlighted in DAP’s memorandum are adopting rebalance approach of military force, overhauling intelligence unit and solving illegal immigrants problem.