KUALA LUMPUR: Some countries have eased travel advisories for Sabah after security was stepped up to combat piracy and kidnappings in the state's waters, says Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan.
Mohamad said a total of 25 countries had issued travel advisories, cautioning their citizens from travelling to Sabah.
"Once upon a time the activities of pirates and kidnapping for ransoms were quite widespread in the Sabah waters. This has prompted several countries to issue travel advisories cautioning their citizens," he said during question time in the Dewan Rakyat on Monday (Jan 26).
"Some countries have issued a Level 3 warning which is as good as not travelling to Sabah due to the widespread kidnapping for ransom cases," he added.
Mohamad said the Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) was established to overcome the issue of piracy.
He said as a result of enforcement activities by the police and the Defence Ministry in the area, no incidents of kidnapping for ransom or pirate attacks have been reported in eastern Sabah over the past four to five years.
"Many among the 25 countries have eased their travel advisory to Level 2. A Level 2 warning means travel is still allowed but with caution. In the land areas of the east coast of the peninsula, it is virtually the same as having no travel advisory," he said.
He was responding to a question by Datuk Verdon Bahanda (Ind-Kudat) on the efforts to change the travel advisory status concerning Sabah's east coast issued by countries such as the US, Japan and South Korea.
In a supplementary question, Verdon said his constituency, although being a main tourism destination in the state, had also been affected by the travel advisory.
He then asked Mohamad to explain the efforts taken to promote tourism in the affected areas and ensure that the travel advisory can be lifted entirely.
Mohamad said in response, that the enforcement activities have boosted tourism in the east coast of the peninsula namely Kudat and Semporna - prompting upgrades to the Tawau and Sandakan airports to cater to the rising number of foreign tourists.
He said the Govt has briefed the countries involved on the current situation and even takes foreign diplomatic representatives on annual visits to the area so they can see the situation firsthand.
