By DAP Sabah Vice Chairman Chan Foong Hin

Chief Minister Musa Aman should take full responsibility of the repeating kidnapping cases happen in Eastern Sabah Security Zone (ESSZONE) despite measures taken to tighten security there. DAP Sabah is considering to move a Non Confidence motion against Musa’s leadership pertaining failures of ESSCOM in the coming state assembly sitting.

The latest incident that a fish farm operator and a Filipino worker abducted by a group of men in Kampung Air Sepang, Kunak, is just a repeat of similar cases, regardless what kind of assurance given and actions taken by ESSCOM.

In April, we had a kidnapping case of a Chinese tourist in Semporna. In May, there was 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 July, for instance ?

Does the State Government have the will to protect the security and sovereignty of the people in the ESSZONE.

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 organisation.

There is no more excuse to justify the weaknesses and leakages of ESSCOM security control. Therefore, Chief Minister Musa Aman who also hold the post of Chairman of ESSCOM should take full responsibility of what has happened and he should publicly admit that he failed to protect the security of the public in ESSZONE, Chan emphasised.

If Musa, who is also head of the State Security Council, does not admit his failure publicly, then DAP Sabah would consider to move a Non Confidence motion against his leadership in the coming State Assembly sitting.

Tourism remains the business sector adversely affected by the failure of ESSCOM, not only that, aqua cultural activities also face the security challenge now as the recent two cases happened in fish farm.

Earlier in May, DAP had submitted their memorandum pertaining improvement of security of ESSZONE to Chief Minister Musa Aman. Among the highlighted recommendations from the party is, ESSCOM shall be replaced by a new Joint Command, which chaired by a senior police officer, as the issue is pertaining to internal security matter. Furthermore, the new Joint Command must be designed in a way that is able to resolve the overlapping jurisdiction among all related authorities, namely Markas Angkatan Tugas Bersama 2 (MATB 2), RMA, RMP etc.

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