KOTA KINABALU: Sabah’s ongoing dusk-to-dawn sea curfew has been extended another 14 days to July 24.
Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Idris Abdullah said residents in the areas covered by the curfew are required to stay at home from 6pm to 6am.
It was originally scheduled to end on Saturday (July 9).
He added that outsiders are not allowed to enter the curfew zones.
The curfew covers areas up to three nautical miles off Tawau, Semporna, Kunak, Lahad Datu, Kinabatangan, Sandakan and Beluran.
Idris said the extension of the curfew was necessary due to continuous threats from cross-border criminals including from kidnap-for-ransom (KFR) groups.
"The curfew is needed to ensure our waters are not intruded by terrorists or criminals from southern Philippines who can threaten the safety of international researchers or kidnap foreign tourists visiting the islands," he said, in a statement here on Saturday (July 9).
This is because their intelligence sources have revealed that the Abu Sayyaf group was still attempting to carry out kidnapping-for-ransom activities as well as other border crimes, he added.
"The curfew will allow security forces to look after the safety of people who travel at sea and those living in the Eastern Sabah Security Zone (Esszone)," said Idris.
"It will also allow us to enforce and monitor the movement of vessels as well as create a sense of security and confidence among chalet operators and the fishing industry through the omnipresence of security forces enforcing this curfew," he added.
He said he had also given the authority to the respective district police chiefs to issue permits to any applicant who fulfils the necessary requirements to conduct fishing activities or to ply through the water routes in the curfew areas.
First implemented on July 19, 2014, the curfew followed a series of kidnappings which saw the beheading of Sarawakian Bernard Then Ted Fen and the killing of several others, including a policeman and tourists.
