KUCHING: Malaysia is not encroaching into Indonesian territory by setting up a check-point at Burs Point.
Deputy Home Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar has dismissed the claim by residents Kayu Mati Island of Nunukan in Indonesia, whose spokesman and local leader Iman Basran said they saw a new post built by Malaysians in an area believed to be within the Indonesian side of the boundary.
Indonesian Provincial Legislative Council representative Niko Hartono urged the matter to be looked into.
Wan Junaidi, in response, stressed that the claim was not true.
“I have checked this building. It is a border check-point currently under construction by the Malaysian government at a location called Burs Point on an island bordering Indonesia facing Nunukan Island.
“The building is definitely on the Malaysian soil of Tawau, Sabah. This border check-point is strategically situated within Malaysia but further south, across the waterway, is an Indonesian military check-point across the border. The two (Malaysian and Indonesian) check-points are separated by the waterway,” he told The Borneo Post yesterday.
According to Wan Junaidi, the Burs Point check-point is slated for monitoring and controlling the entry of Indonesians from Nunukan to Sabah via Tawau, as well as preventing rampant smuggling along this far-north point.