Is Sabah’s security in the high sea really matter to Malaysia?

Is Sabah’s security in the high sea really matter to Malaysia?

The Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) was established for the Eastern Sabah Security Zone (Esszone), a Malaysian security area that covers 1,400km of the east coast of Sabah from Kudat to Tawau.

It was established by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and announced on March 7, 2013 by Musa Aman, the Sabah Chief Minister. Its purpose is to strengthen maritime security in the eastern part of Sabah following the persistent attacks by pirates and militants in the southern Philippines especially after the 2013 stand-off at Lahad Datu, while at the same time ensuring that trade and business activity are not affected.

The Esscom headquarters and main bases are in Lahad Datu and other eastern towns.

It has been observed that Esscom has incurred a few billion ringgit of assets and operational costs for almost four years without much results as intended despite a curfew in Esszone for the same period.

Despite such massive costs in dealing with our coastal security including two submarines largely stationed in Sepanggar naval base plus the regular high altitude flights by military jets based in Labuan, piracies and kidnappings are still with us in the seas between Sabah and Phillipines, not to mention regular illegal trades of controlled and banned wild life items.

Don’t we have accesses to technologies to deal with such intrusions to commit crimes in our coastal zones?  Don’t we need adequate system in place to control the passages of foreign vessels or rather speed boats into Sabah’s eastern water? We have to be the upper hands to deter and frustrate whatever “Trojan horses” already in Sabah.

We must address the entry points in eastern water zone or Esszone for better control of movement of foreigners desirable or undesirable especially cross border bartered trade is now resumed. The porous border is no excuse for breaches in entries to Sabah.

All entries by any vessels especially speed boats or pump boats must be regulated at stipulated points with the help of floating PVC pipes as boundary in the open sea.  Also if wild animals can be tagged, why not all foreign vessels be subject to this system if they want to enter Sabah’s water. Any boats or speed boat engines if found untagged in Sabah’s water at all hours should be detained and confiscated after general adequate warnings.

I would also suggest that security posts near the coastline engage adequate dogs who work 24/7 daily and who can sense intrusions at a distance like the Indians military defends it faraway borders with the help of dogs.

Without such tough measures, would even moving the Lok Kawi Army camp to the east coast be really capable to properly handle those regular intrusions and crimes thereof?

Such tough measures must be in place to get the peace and security for local and tourists alike especially Sabah has some of the best diving hotspots in the world and must visits by foreigners.

When people in Esszone feel insecure for livelihood there, they are tempted to come to Kota Kinabalu and then cause much traffic congestion around the city in search of business here. All towns in Sabah must be given a chance to develop in peace and security for the overall economy to prosper.

Also the proposed Sabah Maritime Academy should also give priority to deal with the manpower to secure Esszone.                 Joshua Y C Kong 11/10/2019