To the Kadazandusun and Murut (KDM) communities, the largest ethnic category in the BN “fixed deposit state”, the Sulu gunmen’s easy entry into Sabah last month was largely because foreigner infiltration was made so easy for decades by the 1980s initiative.
Under ‘Projek IC’ hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants were given citizenship in exchange for their votes for the ruling coalition in Sabah.
They believe the militant group from the Sulu archipelago in the southern Philippines had managed to organise their attacks better as many of their sympathisers and family members were already residing in the Borneo state, thanks to “Projek IC”.
“This is the mother of all problems in Sabah. It has always been the mother of all problems. People know about it. Everyone knows about it,” KDM leader Denis Gimpah told The Malaysian Insider yesterday.
“But because of power and money, and political survival, these foreigners were made use of. Now, we are learning the hard way why this should not have been allowed, why it should have been stopped.”
A group of over 200 gunmen, claiming to be the “royal army” of the Sulu Sultanate, landed without trouble in Lahad Datu on February 9 to lay claim over Sabah, using the loosely guarded 40-minute sea passage between the Philippine Muslim south and the coastal district in northern Sabah.
Their landing has resulted in nearly 80 deaths, including eight policemen and two soldiers, and forced thousands of villagers out of their homes in remote areas of the eastern-most Malaysian state. Putrajaya has also declared the area a special security zone and will commit defence forces to guard the area.
Gimpah, a former BN man, said the human remains, environmental damage and the loss of homes from the clashes between Malaysian security forces and the militants in Lahad Datu have frustrated and riled Sabah natives.
“We are scared. We are frustrated. What else could we feel? Our security, our sovereignty destroyed. Ask any KDM... they would tell you the same,” Gimpah said.
He predicted that this anger would likely affect the voting pattern in the coming Election 2013, particularly as the intrusion had come at a time when Sabahans were awaiting the outcome of the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) investigation into the state’s illegal immigrant problem.
Datuk Jeffrey Kitingan, veteran politician and well-known leader of the KDMs in Sabah, echoed the same.
He said the KDM communities continue to be wracked by fear, anger and frustration, believing the federal government had failed to protect the safety of its own people.
“Basically, we are scared. We feel… there is this security threat and it is real. It lives among us. And we do not know what lies in the future. We are angry... obviously.
“We look at the intrusion has having much to do with our government’s action of giving ICs to foreigners just to promote a certain political interest,” he told The Malaysian Insider.
“This, you know, this has backfired... we have raised this for 20 years and we said this will happen one day... and guess what? It is happening.”
Merdeka Center for Opinion Research director Ibrahim Suffian agreed that many among Sabah’s indigenous people are pinning the loss of lives and livelihoods on “Projek IC” and the culprits who masterminded the controversial initiative.
The influential pollster pointed out it was normal to connect the Sulu gunmen’s intrusion to the arbitrary distribution of ICs to foreigners, which allegedly took place under the project.
“It goes hand in hand. And, of course, the local population have widespread knowledge of what is happening on the ground.
“The KDMs would be particularly angry as they see this as an encroachment into their territory.
“They would blame the federal government for their role, believing that the population boost in Sabah was caused by the project,” Ibrahim said.
But Muslim-Bumiputera communities are split, he said, explaining that those who had directly benefited from “Projek IC” were unlikely to punish the government for the invasion, even when polls are held.
Ibrahim said the Kadazan and Murut communities blame the federal government for its role in ‘Projek IC’.
For the estimated 300,000 Suluks living in Sabah, however, the invasion had turned their once-peaceful lives into a daily nightmare.
The Malaysian Suluks are descendants of the Sulu Sultanate in the Philippines’ Muslim south, where the armed rebels had come from. But the community in Sabah, now in its third generation, does not swear allegiance to the sultanate but to Malaysia’s Yang di-Pertuan Agong and the ruling government.
They are generations born of those who lived through the Cobbold Commission’s 1962 referendum in Sabah and Sarawak, where two-thirds of the people had voted to be part of Malaysia, paving the way for the 1963 Malaysia agreement.
But now many feel hunted in their own homes as they are often mistaken for the Suluk rebels from the Philippines.
“We are Malaysians and we support the government here 100 per cent. What we fear today is that we are misunderstood, mistaken as the uncivilised foreigners from Philippines,” said Persatuan Rumpun Etnik Suluk Sabah (PRESS) secretary-general Mohd Zaki Harry Susanto.
The 39-year-old former ASP with the Sabah police contingent told The Malaysian Insider that the Suluks were angered by the invasion, and even embarrassed that it had been led by Filipino Suluks.
“We feel their actions are stupid... pointless and so uncivilised. Stupid because they are demanding something that is not theirs. Uncivilised because in truth, the Suluk culture is to be humble and good Muslims,” he said.
According to replies provided in Parliament in 2011, Sabah’s populace numbered 651,304 in 1970 and grew to 929,299 a decade later. But in the two decades following 1980, the state’s population rose significantly by a staggering 1.5 million people, reaching 2,468,246 by 2000.
Media reports said that as of 2010, this number grew further to 3.12 million, with foreigners making up a sizeable 27 per cent or 889,799 of the population.
The population boom has been blamed on “Projek IC”, which was alleged to be a brainchild of Malaysia’s longest serving prime minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. Under the project, the ruling BN government has been accused of awarding ICs to foreigners in exchange for their votes and their continued cling to power in the east Malaysian state.
The Najib administration has called for a RCI to probe the existence of the controversial project but the inquiry was rudely interrupted by the Sulu invasion.
Clara Chooi
MISI PEMBANGKANG UNTUK MENGALIHKAN PERHATIAN RAKYAT TERHADAP PENGLIBATAN ANWAR DALAM INSIDEN PENCEROBOHAN LAHAD DATU
ReplyDeleteSelepas sebuah agensi asing melaporkan tentang Anwar Ibrahim sebagai dalang serangan lanun-lanun Sulu ke Lahad Datu pada 1 Mac 2013, maka bermulalah operasi Anwar Ibrahim dan konco-konconya untuk mengalihkan perhatian rakyat Malaysia daripada insiden di Lahad Datu itu.
(From a posting in Hornbill Unleashed 27/03/13. The Malaysia Insider writer has not done her homework to present a fair and balanced opinion).
DeleteTHERE WAS NO “COBBOLD COMMISSION REFERENDUM”! NO EXERCISE OF FREE CHOICE!
THERE WAS NO “COBBOLD COMMISSION REFERENDUM” ON THE MALAYSIA QUESTION. There was never an exercise of free choice or “YES or NO” vote by the Sabah and Sarawak people on whether or not to become part of Malaysia.
There was only a “Cobbold Commission of Enquiry on Malaysia” in North Borneo (Sabah) and Sarawak to find out whether the people here supported the British Malayan 1961 proposal to incorporate 5 countries (Malaya, Singapore, Brunei, North Borneo and Sarawak as equal partners) under the “Malaysia Concept”.
The word “enquiry” in plain English does not mean a “referendum”. The Thesaurus defines “enquiry – a systematic investigation of a matter of public interest”.
This enquiry was carried out by British and Malayan colonial officials and ex-officials appointed by the British government which was a clear conflict of interest.
The Commission was therefore not an independent body conducting an assessment of views. This was done to avoid complying with the UN de-colonisation protocol of a referendum and side stepping the strong local and international opposition to the Malaysia proposal.
1. COBBOLD COMMISSION’S BRIEF WAS CALLED AN “ENQUIRY”. .
The Commission conclusions were called “findings”. This means this was no more than taking an opinion poll on the “Malaysia concept/proposal”. It was Britain’s a response to the widespread local and international opposition to their neo-colonial idea.
It is to re-define the dictionary meaning to call an “enquiry” a “referendum” and actually done to mask the real history behind the formation of Malaysia.
A “referendum” is an independently supervised vote on a question or issue of national or public importance affecting a group of people or nation. Examples of East Timor and Southern Sudan which had independence referendums. But there was never such a vote in Sabah or Sarawak on the Malaysia proposal which had far reaching disastrous impact on the people!
2. COMMISSION INTERVIEWED 4,000 PEOPLE
The Commission “interviewed” about 4,000 in the 2 colonies being less than 4% of the total population in 1962. This was hardly a vote.
If it were a “referendum” all the people of adult age in the 2 colonies should have been allowed to vote on the question after a reasonable period of education so they could make an informed consent or decision. This was the very objection raised by the 2 British colonial governors who said the Borneo people were not ready for the federation.
4,000 people cannot by any stretch of imagination be called a representative “vote” or referendum.
Cont'd next post
3. WIDESPREAD OPPOSITION TO MALAYSIA
DeleteThe Malaysia proposal aroused immediate opposition in the 3 Borneo colonies with people expressing fears of being re-colonised by a transfer of power to Malaya. The independence movement in the 3 Borneo colonies led a delegation to he UN to expressed their opposition to Malaysia.
In Sabah only the Suluks and Bugis who were then only a tiny minority interest group supported the Malaysia Concept. In Brunei and Sarawak the opposition to Malaysia was even more strongly articulated and widespread with unprecedented huge demonstrations against Malaysia in Sarawak.
Around the same time when the Commission “findings” were released, the Brunei of people elected the anti-Malaysia Brunei People’s Party with a landslide majority in an open general election held by the British colonial authorities.
The BPP put forward 3 resolutions for the first Legislative Council meeting:
1. Reject the Malaysia proposal.
2. Reunite North Borneo and Sarawak with Brunei
3. Form the independent Borneo Federation (North Kalimantan)
The BPP proposals were rejected by the British and on December 8 1962, the BPP led Brunei anti-Malaysia Uprising for independence broke out with the declaration for an independent North Kalimantan.
The fighting spread to parts of Sabah and Sarawak and later developed into a guerilla war for national liberation and independence in Sarawak which lasted till 1990. At the same time Indonesia launched its “Ganyang Malaysia” campaign with “Konfrontasi” to “smash Malaysia”.
4. MALAYSIA NOT FREELY & VOLUNTARILY “FORMED”
Malaysia was hastily declared on September 16 1963 while there was an anti-Malaysia independence armed uprising in progress and before the people were give time to properly and fully consider the implications of the federation.
Prior to that the concept had changed into a new concept because Brunei declined to be part of the federation over lack of real “equal partnership”. This is changed the racial balance justification for forming Malaysia.
Further, North Borneo and Sarawak were still colonies when the Malaysia Agreement was signed on July 9 1962.
Sarawak regained its independence on July 22 1962 (independent state from 1841 to 1941). Sabah got an even shorter independence on August 31 1962. They were still colonies which could not have validly sign an international treaty like Malaysia Agreement. They did not even have properly elected representatives.
This means that the signing was not an informed and free and voluntary act by both colonies.
CONCLUSION:
This is the historic background of the opposition to Malaysia. The argument that there was a “referendum” is an overstated big lie and false argument used to mask the facts and legitimise the formation of Malaysia.
The Cobbold Commission was only an “enquiry”.
THERE WAS NEVER A REFERENDUM ON MALAYSIA!
MISI PEMBANGKANG UNTUK MENGALIHKAN PERHATIAN RAKYAT TERHADAP PENGLIBATAN ANWAR DALAM INSIDEN PENCEROBOHAN LAHAD DATU
ReplyDeleteAnwar Ibrahim dan konco-konconya cuba menggambarkan kononnya UMNO dan Barisan Nasional sudah terlalu FOBIA dengan nama serta kelibatnya, sehinggakan apa-apa sahaja yang berlaku dalam negara, semuanya diatas-namakan ANWAR IBRAHIM.
MISI PEMBANGKANG UNTUK MENGALIHKAN PERHATIAN RAKYAT TERHADAP PENGLIBATAN ANWAR DALAM INSIDEN PENCEROBOHAN LAHAD DATU
ReplyDeleteNamun, pokok takkan bergoyang kalau tidak ada tangan yang menggoncangnya. Sama seperti lagu yang didendangkan oleh Anwar Ibrahim, ‘TANYA SAMA POKOK’. Apabila diselidiki dan diperhalusi, ‘POKOK’ pun menjawab, Anwar adalah dalangnya yang sebenar.
MISI PEMBANGKANG UNTUK MENGALIHKAN PERHATIAN RAKYAT TERHADAP PENGLIBATAN ANWAR DALAM INSIDEN PENCEROBOHAN LAHAD DATU
ReplyDeleteUsaha para konco dan penjilat untuk mengalihkan serta memutarbelitkan isu berhubung pembabitan Anwar Ibrahim dalam kes pencerobohan dan kejahatan lanun Sulu yang diketuai oleh Nur Misuari dan Jamalul Kiram III, tidak lagi DIRESTUI ALLAH TAALA.
MISI PEMBANGKANG UNTUK MENGALIHKAN PERHATIAN RAKYAT TERHADAP PENGLIBATAN ANWAR DALAM INSIDEN PENCEROBOHAN LAHAD DATU
ReplyDeleteBahkan rahsia itu lebih cepat bocor dan bobos sehinggakan Pengarah Strategi PKR, Rafizi Ramli terpaksa menggunakan kaedah keji dengan menjadikan PAPAGOMO sebagai bahan sasaran dengan klip video seks sejenis melibatkan Anwar Ibrahim.
MISI PEMBANGKANG UNTUK MENGALIHKAN PERHATIAN RAKYAT TERHADAP PENGLIBATAN ANWAR DALAM INSIDEN PENCEROBOHAN LAHAD DATU
ReplyDeleteHarapannya agak mudah iaitu video seks sejenis tersebut diharapkan mampu menarik perhatian orang ramai dan orang ramai akan dibajai dengan pemikiran, kononnya klip video tersebut adalah satu lagi cubaan untuk memalukan Anwar Ibrahim.
MISI PEMBANGKANG UNTUK MENGALIHKAN PERHATIAN RAKYAT TERHADAP PENGLIBATAN ANWAR DALAM INSIDEN PENCEROBOHAN LAHAD DATU
ReplyDeleteRafizi Ramli menjangkakan isu klip video seks sejenis akan diperdebatkan dengan sehebat-hebatnya sehingga isu Lahad Datu boleh dilupakan begitu sahaja. Itu yang boleh diperkatakan tentang taktik pengalihan isu terbaru oleh Anwar Ibrahim dengan bantuan Rafizi Ramli.
MISI PEMBANGKANG UNTUK MENGALIHKAN PERHATIAN RAKYAT TERHADAP PENGLIBATAN ANWAR DALAM INSIDEN PENCEROBOHAN LAHAD DATU
ReplyDeleteSebaliknya cerita sebenar dan kronologi kaitan antara Anwar Ibrahim dengan lanun-lanun Sulu tersebut, mulai timbul di permukaan dan terdedah perlahan-lahan dan semakin jelas. Sekaligus menunjukkan perlunya mewujudkan sebuah SURUHANJAYA SIASATAN DIRAJA berhubung pembabitan Anwar dan Pakatan Rakyat dalam serangan lanun ke atas wilayah Malaysia.
MISI PEMBANGKANG UNTUK MENGALIHKAN PERHATIAN RAKYAT TERHADAP PENGLIBATAN ANWAR DALAM INSIDEN PENCEROBOHAN LAHAD DATU
ReplyDeletePhilippine Military Intelligence mengesahkan kehadiran Sivarasa dan Tian Chua ke Manila, Filipina pada 7 Februari 2013, yakni dua hari sebelum pendaratan Pengganas Kiram ke Lahad Datu pada 9 Februari 2013.
MISI PEMBANGKANG UNTUK MENGALIHKAN PERHATIAN RAKYAT TERHADAP PENGLIBATAN ANWAR DALAM INSIDEN PENCEROBOHAN LAHAD DATU
ReplyDeleteMedia antrabangsa seperti Reuters, Inquirer Manila Times, The Philipine.ABC.CBN, Wikileaks dan Kedutaan Amerika di Manila mengesahkan akan “Pembabitan Individu Pembankang dari Malaysia”. Kemudiannya individu pembangkang ini dikenalpasti sebagai Tian Chua, R. Sivarasa dan Bapa Pengkhiamat Negara Anwar Ibrahim.
MISI PEMBANGKANG UNTUK MENGALIHKAN PERHATIAN RAKYAT TERHADAP PENGLIBATAN ANWAR DALAM INSIDEN PENCEROBOHAN LAHAD DATU
ReplyDeleteDua hari lepas, Atik Husin dan Holanda mengesahkan di Mahkamah Tawau bahawa mereka dibayar upah dan wang oleh seseorang semasa di Filipina lagi.
MISI PEMBANGKANG UNTUK MENGALIHKAN PERHATIAN RAKYAT TERHADAP PENGLIBATAN ANWAR DALAM INSIDEN PENCEROBOHAN LAHAD DATU
ReplyDeletePada 8.2.2013 iaitu sehari selepas R.Sivarasa dan Tian Chua bertemu dengan Kelompok-Kelompok MNLF, dipercayai memberikan Sejumlah Wang yang maha besar kepada MNLF untuk mengkucar-kacirkan Sabah menjelang Pembubaran Parlimen kononnya pada 1.3.2013.
MISI PEMBANGKANG UNTUK MENGALIHKAN PERHATIAN RAKYAT TERHADAP PENGLIBATAN ANWAR DALAM INSIDEN PENCEROBOHAN LAHAD DATU
ReplyDeletePerjumpaan pada 7 Feb 2013 merupakan janji manis Buku Jingga ke-2, dua orang pengkhianat kepada penceroboh untuk menceroboh negara sendiri.
MISI PEMBANGKANG UNTUK MENGALIHKAN PERHATIAN RAKYAT TERHADAP PENGLIBATAN ANWAR DALAM INSIDEN PENCEROBOHAN LAHAD DATU
ReplyDeleteBegitu juga bapa segala pengkhianat negara Anwar Ibrahim turut bersama-sama berada di Manila bertemu Nur Misuari. Ini juga dipantau oleh Philipine Militarry Intelligent dan dilapor oleh media-media cetak antarabangsa.
SABAHAN MARAH SEBAB PEMBANGKANG MAKIN BERNAFSU BERPOLITIK KETIKA NEGARA BERADA DALAM ANCAMAN.. TIDAK HABIS-HABIS AMBIL KESEMPATAN DISEBALIK KESEMPITAN..
ReplyDeleteSIKAP PEMBANGKANG APABILA BERHADAPAN DENGAN ISU ANCAMAN NEGARA MEMBUKTIKAN BAHAWA MEREKA MEMANG MENDALANGI INSIDEN PENCEROBOHAN INI.. SEBAB ITU MEREKA LEBIH SUKA BERPOLITIK BERBANDING DENGAN BEKERJASAMA DENGAN PIHAK KERAJAAN..
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletePeguam Negara, Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail mengesahkan lebih ramai akan didakwa berkaitan insiden pencerobohan pengganas Sulu di Lahad Datu, Sabah.
ReplyDeleteJanji kesemua dakwaan dibuat mengikuti undang-undang negara.
DeleteBagaimanapun, beliau enggan mendedahkan jumlah suspek terbabit atas alasan keselamatan.
ReplyDelete"Sudah tentu ada lagi yang akan didakwa," katanya kepada pemberita di pejabatnya hari ini, sambil menambah siasatan berhubung kes itu harus dijalankan secara ketat dan teliti kerana pihak berkuasa tidak mahu melakukan pendakwaan terhadap mereka yang tidak bersalah.
ReplyDeleteMengulas penahanan komander kumpulan pengganas Sulu Datu Amir Bahar Hushin Kiram di Semporna pada Sabtu, Abdul Gani berkata, Jabatan Peguam Negara akan meneliti perkara itu.
ReplyDeleteBeliau juga berkata pihaknya akan mengemukakan permohonan untuk mengekstradisi pemimpin kumpulan bersenjata pengganas Sulu itu, Jamalul Kiram, kepada kerajaan Filipina.
ReplyDeleteA Special Branch officer, who was injured in a shootout with Sulu invaders in Sabah, relied on rainwater to keep him hydrated and alive for 21 hours before he was rescued.
ReplyDelete
DeleteInsp Mohamad Hasnal Jamil, 31, said he felt like dying after being slashed six times with a machete three on the right arm and three at the back of his head.
Three M16 shots grazed his stomach and left arm, leaving the officer bleeding severely and without medical help.
DeleteThis happened during the first shootout between Malaysian security forces and the Sulu invaders in Semporna on March 2.
ReplyDeleteSix policemen were killed in the incident.
Pengorbanan yang tidak diperlukan.
DeletePengorbaban polis ini akan dikenangi selalu, mereka terkorban demi keselamatan rakyat.
Delete“In the attack, nine of us sought shelter in an empty wooden house. I felt like dying. All I could do was hold on in pain and pray.
ReplyDeleteI think im beginning to understand that cobbold commission was lame.
ReplyDeletePRESIDEN Pertubuhan Pasokmomogun KadazanDusun Murut Bersatu (Upko) Tan Sri Bernard Dompok menggesa kerajaan menarik balik kesemua kad pengenalan yang dikeluarkan di Sabah dan mengeluarkan semula dokumen berkenaan kepada golongan yang dikenalpasti sebagai warga yang sah.
ReplyDeleteMP Penampang itu menuntut demikian untuk menyisihkan golongan yang memiliki dokumen berkenaan secara tidak sah.
ReplyDeleteSaluran mana yang mereka mendapatkan dukumen tidak sah?
Deletebeliau akan mengesyorkan perkara itu kepada suruhanjaya siasatan diraja mengenai pendatang asing di Sabah.
ReplyDeleteIni akan memberi peluang kepada kita di Sabah untuk membuktikan ketulenan kewarganegaraan kita supaya orang Sabah yang asli sahaja diberikan dokumen kerakyatan seperti kad pengenalan baru itu,
ReplyDeleteJabatan Pendaftaran harus bertanggung jawab dan lebih berhati-hati semasa pemberian mykad. Banyak yang dikesan tidak sah untuk memiliki mykad tetapi diberi juga.
DeleteKenyataan itu disokong para pemimpin parti komponen BN yang mewakili kumpulan Kadazan-Dusun Murut – Presiden Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan dan presiden Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah Tan Sri Joseph Kurup.
ReplyDeleteThe formation of the Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCOM) serves as a double-edged sword. It not only ensures the sovereignty and security of Sabah's east coast, but also brings a breath of fresh air to residents in the five districts.
ReplyDeleteESSCOM? EVER HEARD OF RASCOM - SARAWAK?
DeleteDo not be overjoyed too soon.
ESSCOM's counterpart RASCOM in Sarawak was not paradise of peace and security for 25 years in Sarawak when the Malayan Occupation army fought the independence resistance movement's North Kalimantan People's Army.
The independence war (1962 to 1990) in Northern Borneo is little known as the UMNO government kept it as a secret operation to limit the message of the anti-Malaysia independence movement whose objective was to form an independent Northern Borneo state. This continued the Brunei anti-Malaysia independence uprising in December 1962. This history of this war remains largely unknown to the rest of the Borneo people in Sabah and Sarawak and even less in Malaya.
RASCOM was a vast strategic security zone designed to contain and deny local support to the Northern Borneo independence movement.
Thousands of Dayak villagers were relocated into "new villages" as in Malaya during the Malayan "emergency". Many of these people are still suffering from being uprooted from their homelands.
ESSCOM will degenerate into a war zone if the Suluks continue resistance with a guerrilla war and they are not to be dismissed easily.
This is a real double edged sword which will cut both ways.
You can enjoy plenty of fresh sea or mountain air but little freedom when curfews become common place and people cannot go to sea to fish or carry out farming activities.
This means the common people will suffer from UMNO's spectacular failure to protect Sabah from foreign invasion. They are already suffering from fear of the police and soldiers mistaking them for Sulus and be shot, interruption to daily live and normal activities.
The Sabah people have already lost all confidence in the UMNO government for its failure to protect Sabah from foreign invasion which was the justification for forming Malaysia. If Malaya can live up to this promise the people cannot have confidence in such a government.
That the UMNO government has to form ESSCOM is a backward step to rescue itself from the major loss of public confidence!
The best way for Sabahans to strongly express their loss of confidence in UMNO is to KICK OUT UMNO from Sabah at the coming elections.
ESSCOM, which encompasses Kudat, Tawau, Kunak, Sandakan and Lahad Datu, as announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak on March 7, is poised to promote more rapid economic growth, in line with the Sabah Development Corridor launched in 2008. Silam Member of Parliament Salleh Kalbi said ESSCOM's formation would give a major impact, not just economy-wise, but could stimulate the tourism, education and socio-cultural sectors while creating 100,000 employment opportunities.
ReplyDeleteNajib announced the establishment of ESSCOM when observing operations mounted by the security forces in eradicating terrorist groups from southern Philippines at Felda Sahabat 16, near Kampung Tanduo, about 130km from Lahad Datu town. Lahad Datu, the administration centre of ESSCOM, is located at the centre of two main districts on Sabah's east coast, namely Tawau and Sandakan with a population of 195,000, of which 25,162 are voters.
ReplyDeleteThe Silam member of parliament said the creation of ESSCOM along the 1,400km coastline of Sabah's east coast would also promote fishing activities, involving tiger prawn, shrimp and crab, apart from seaweed cultivation. With an area of about 6,635 sq km, Lahad Datu currently has an airport located in the middle of the town and receives about 20,000 tourists a month. Salleh said the Danum Valley and the Tabin Wildlife Park were among the tourist attractions, besides its natural beautiful environment.
ReplyDeleteLahad Datu, located by the seaside, is poised to have army and police camps and depots as proposed, and it would be upgraded as a maritime city, if it fulfilled all conditions. There is even a possibility of setting up a university. The ESSCOM move, noted Salleh, would give confidence to Sabahans that the government will guarantee peace and sovereignty for the Land Below the Wind.
ReplyDelete