SANDAKAN: Malaysia Maritime Enforcement Agency’s (MMEA) first office building in Sabah was officially opened here yesterday.
The construction of the five-storey office building began on March 1, 2012 and was handed over to MMEA DM17 on November 27 2015. It became fully operational on January 4, this year.
The MMEA DM17 building was built on 3.52acres on land and 3.17 acres on sea. It is the first DM to have a building and a jetty in Sabah.
The office building comprises an administration office, operation office, store facility, logistic facility, a lock-up for detainees , an assembly area, a jetty for vessels and boats which is equipped with facilities for docking.
The opening ceremony was graced by Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Raymond Tan Shu Kiah on behalf of Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Dr. Shahidan Kassim.
Speaking at the ceremony Raymond said MMEA had played a vital role as one of the enforcement agencies in this region, especially in Sabah waters since it was established on February 15, 2005.
As for DM 17, it has recorded 446 cases between 2007 and August 2016, comprising cases of cigarette smuggling, illegal immigrants and human trafficking. From the total, 117 cases had been brought to justice which garnered some RM256,605.20 in compounds. MMEA DM 17 has also deprived the rights of 70 foreign fishing boats.
“For the same period, 1,667 people had been detained whereby 345 were jailed for various offences. In April and May, MMEA foiled the smuggling of 4,468 cartons of contraband cigarettes worth more than half million Ringgit, including boat, and engines,” he said.
Therefore, he believes that with this new facility, MMEA DM17 could motivate this enforcement agency as one of the Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCom) backbones to increase their capability to ensure our waters are safe.
Meanwhile, MMEA director-general Admiral Maritime Datuk Seri Ahmad Puzi Ab Kahar said the federal government will continue to boost the presence of the MMEA in the waters of Eastern Sabah Security Zone (ESSZone).
He said this was proven with the establishment of the Sandakan Maritime (DM 17) office building to ensure more effective search and rescue operations in the waters here.
He said the five-storey building constructed at a cost of RM40 million was already fully utilised since January this year.
“The construction of the DM 17 office is a testimony of the commitment of the federal and state governments to strengthen the capability of MMEA as an enforcement and security agency,” he said.
In other development, Ahmad Puzi also said MMEA would receive some new assets such as six units of new generation petrol craft (NGPC) which would be delivered in stages.
Apart from that MMEA was also given an allocation for three offshore patrol vessels (OPV) .
In the same ceremony, a total of 53 MMEA personnel were conferred with the Sovereignty Medals.