Noor Alam visiting the villagers in ESSZone.
THE repeated kidnapping incidents in the state have negatively impacted Sabah’s tourism sector, resulting in beach and island goers avoiding the east coast where such incidents occur.
With many countries telling their citizens to avoid traveling to the east coast, should we, Malaysians, especially Sabahans feel threatened without digging for the most important information about the incidents?
The Borneo Post interviewed Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCom) chief executive officer, Noor Alam Khan for a clearer answer to the question.
“Most all of the kidnapping cases were beyond our control because they did not inform the operation centre of the movement of their boats.
“If boat operators provide us the details of the movement of their vessels, we can at least monitor them closely as a precaution.
“The most important thing they should do before going out to the sea, is simple. Inform us. If we cannot escort them, our security forces will monitor them from point to point. However, it is not easy for us to monitor if their location is in the middle of Point A to Point B. That is why they should keep us updated of their movements from time to time.
“We need cooperation from all boat operators, not only fishermen but also the tour companies, especially those slow moving boats which are difficult to detect by radar. Although radar can detect their movement, it can’t tell whether the boat belongs to the good guys or bad guys,” he said.
Alam stressed that every boat had a right to go to sea as long as they had a license, and it is not mandatory for them to inform the security forces. However, looking at the kidnap for ransom incidents for the past few years, he said there is no reason for the boat operators to ignore the call, to inform about their movement.
ESSCom, which was established in 2013, comprised of the Malaysian Armed Forces, Royal Malaysian Police, Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency and relevant government agencies is always prepared to face any eventuality, including invasion and aggression of terrorists.
It pledged to work with renewed determination to strengthen its presence in defending the sovereignty of the country and preserving the security of citizens.
“The government has no higher obligation than the protection of national sovereignty and the security of its citizens. ESSCom is entrusted by the government to ensure the Eastern Sabah Security Zone (ESSZone) is controlled and safe,” said Alam.
The ESSZone stretches 1,733.7 km from the Kudat to the Tawau districts and also encompasses the districts of Kota Marudu, Pitas, Beluran, Sandakan, Kinabatangan, Lahad Datu, Kunak and Semporna.
Lahad Datu, as the headquarters of ESSCom is one of the potential tourism spots in Sabah. It is the gateway to world class resorts like Danum Valley Conservation Area and Tabin Wildlife Reserve.
He said promotions should be done regularly to ensure people keep coming to visit and invest to create confidence among foreigners, adding that this should be done by Malaysians.
“The ESSZone is under control, and those who understand the real situation are still coming here. Those incidents happened because they did not inform us.
“We can clearly see, people are still avoiding to come here, but it is not going to stop us to continue to step up security control in the waters of ESSZone to check smuggling and cross-border crime, especially abductions.
“We are hoping to work together with Indonesia and the Philippines, which I believe will show how serious these countries are in controlling the waters from threats. This issue is not only between Malaysia and the Philippines anymore, now Indonesia is also in the picture because there are cases where their citizens were kidnapped,” he said, adding that ESSCom is in the process of adding to its assets.
“We are waiting for more assets to arrive, which will increase our defense. Improvements are made everyday, where our security forces are 24 hours on duty, not only during the dusk-to-dawn curfew.
“There will be patrol during the 7pm to 7am curfew, but we must remember that the curfew is subjected to certain radius. From land to 5km of the waters are not under curfew. That is why we need every boat operator to give their full cooperation to inform about their movements,” said Alam during the interview, at ESSCom Headquarters in Lahad Datu.
He also further explained that ESSCom is aware of the possibility of ‘tali barut’ (accomplices), who act as informers on land.
Discussions and meetings were regularly scheduled not only with resort owners but also community leaders to ensure threats can be contained from all angles.
For ESSCom, taking care of ESSZone’s security is a challenging task, considering the area’s geography. Apart from its lengthy coastline, the security zone covers a land area of 31,158 sq km, including 362 islands.
“It is not an easy job, even Rajang Security Command (RASCOM) in Sarawak needed about 20 years to end the Communist threat, but we are on the right track.
“More than 50 meetings were held in ESSZone in 2015, with hundreds of illegal immigrants and drugs dealers arrested afterwards, showing that our community is starting to understand their role as the eyes and ears of the security forces.
“Our security forces are diligently working around the clock, but we can see some community leaders are reluctant to report information.
“They are afraid of threats, especially from aggressive illegal immigrants. There are a number of cases where their children were harmed and threatened. This is the main reason why they are afraid to cooperate with us.
“However, with our regular meetings with them we can see development in some areas. Information has starting to come during meetings, but the number of people approaching us are still low. We need more people to volunteer reporting information,” he said.
Alam added that everyone should be more realistic and look positively at the various measures and successes carried out by ESSCom including preventing several abduction cases in ESSZone.
“Pointing fingers is not going to solve anything. We need to work together,” he concluded.