Call to scrap EssCom, deploy satellite system instead
Assemblyman Junz Wong hopes BN will put aside political differences and stand together on doing away with the EssCom.
Instead, he wants a high tech coastal surveillance system, such as the AIS satellite-enabled transponder system, to be installed in order for the state to fight against terrorists and kidnappers.
Likas Assemblyman Junz Wong said he would debate the subject again in view of the recent RM20 million ransom demand for five kidnapped Malaysians. “I have already debated this issue during the last few sittings of the Sabah Assembly,” he said in a statement.
He lamented however that he has not received any support from the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) but hoped all the same that BN backbenchers and ministers would put aside their political differences and stand together on doing away with the EssCom.
“It’s never too late to understand. Hopefully, the BN would do something about the EssCom,” added Wong.
He said this when commenting on Luyang Assemblyman Hiew King Cheu’s suggestion that the military take over the responsibility of protecting Sabah. “We must implement tougher defence measures and deploy more effective measures.”
Hiew was pushing for the movement of ships and boats along the eastern seaboard of Sabah to be reported to the authorities so that they could be monitored.
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Wong believed that Hiew was in fact referring to the AIS system. “I have been proposing the system for quite some time but to no avail.”