KUDAT: A new remote sensor site (RSS) on Pulau Malawali will enhance surveillance across northern Sabah, giving authorities a powerful new tool to detect and deter intrusions, says Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail (pic).
The Home Minister said the government has allocated RM88mil for the project under the first rolling plan of the 13th Malaysia Plan.
“The existing RSS Balambangan can only monitor 70% of northern Sabah, but once RSS Malawali is completed, it will cover the entire northern region,” he told reporters after visiting RSS Balambangan, Bernama reported.
Together, the two RSS stations will close the gaps in hotspot areas and illegal entry routes, the minister added.
“Several other measures to strengthen security control in Sabah’s waters have also been approved, including the addition of 10 boats for the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency,” he said.
Saifuddin Nasution said his visit aimed to assess the stations’ surveillance capability in northern Sabah, a known illegal entry route along the Malaysia-Philippines border.
The area is also a hotspot for smuggling, cross-border crime and other economic security threats.
“I chose this ground approach to understand whether the strategies developed at the ministry and enforcement agency levels are truly running as smoothly as planned,” he said.
On the global supply crisis, the minister said the Cabinet has specifically directed the Home Ministry to help step up monitoring of all forms of misappropriation.
He expressed frustration that just as the government prioritises the people’s welfare by allocating substantial funds to keep prices at bearable levels, smuggling and leakages are taking place.
“Instructions have been further tightened.
“Petrol stations near the border, whose monitoring falls under the jurisdiction of the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry, will now be assisted by the police,” Saifuddin Nasution said.
