New Army base to be constructed in Lahad Datu costing over RM640mil, says Hisham

KOTA KINABALU: Two new initiatives are being implemented by the Defence Ministry to strengthen Sabah's security in the east coast.

Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said the first initiative involved the construction of a new army base in Felda Sahabat, Lahad Datu at a cost of RM646.15mil, with work to begin this year.

Hishamuddin, who was on a working visit to the Armed Forces Joint Task Force (ATB) headquarters in Tawau on Friday (Jan 14), said the second initiative involves a revival of the Trilateral Cooperation Arrangement (TCA) with two Indonesia and the Philippines.

"This (announcement) is not because it was raised in Parliament, but because I wanted to get a decision from the Finance Ministry and the process takes time – but I deliberately did not want to answer (in Parliament when it was raised recently)," he added.

"A total of RM646.156mil has been allocated for the construction of this camp," he said.

Addressing the issues of cross-border security threats, he said this necessitated a TCA.

"We cannot face the threat alone. That is why we need close cooperation with neighbouring countries," he said.

Hishammuddin said that he would meet the defence ministers from Indonesia and Philippines on Jan 27.

"The trilateral cooperation needs to be revived. My discussions with the two ministers will be on the revival of trilateral cooperation.

"It signals the commitment of all three countries to handle common enemies," he said.

Hishammuddin said the desire to revive the TCA was also communicated to Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor during his meeting in Kota Kinabalu on Thursday (Jan 13).

"The two new initiatives that I announced today are only partial. There are many more plans for Sabah's security that I will announce from time to time," he added.

Hishammuddin, meanwhile, said the Sabah Eastern Security Command (Esscom) would continue to strengthen its control and monitoring in the Eastern Sabah Security Zone (Esszone), although there were no new kidnapping records in the area over the past year.

"Esscom has informed me that the Esszone is relatively safe and under control.

"However, that does not mean that Esscom will slow down its operations ... they will be further strengthened, "he said.