MUARA TEBAS : The State Government is ever ready to assist the federal government through the state’s fund to build more sea patrol vessels for the state Malaysian Marine Enforcement Agency (MMEA). Chief Minister, Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg said that the initiative is to prevent and stop the encroaching of South China Sea.
According to Johari, the state government will channel the funds through the Development Bank of Sarawak (DBOS) so that the building process of these landing crafts can be speeded up. He sees this as an urgent matter as sea encroaching of Sarawak is happening extremely frequently in many hotspots such as Tanjung Manis by foreign and illegal ships. “We understand the financial limitations that the federal government is currently experiencing and we want to wok together for both parties’s gain.
“When the patrol vessels with the inclusion of the landing craft is completed, we can definitely increase the effectiveness and cover more areas in the state’s waters,” said Johari. He said this in his speech during the official launching of the latest New Generation Patrol Craft (NGPC) KM Sri Aman at MMEA Sarawak headquarters, yesterday. In regards to KM Sri Aman, the vessel is equipped with modern technology such as the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Drone. The drone can fly up to six hours and can cover up to 800km distance at one time.
“With such technology, we can strengthen the sovereignty of our waters by detecting sea encroachers from a far distance,” he added. The vessel itself is 44 metres long and 7.7 metres wide which is also equipped with the Aselsan Smash 30mm cannon that can shoot 200 rounds per minute within the range of between 15km and 20km. Later in a press conference, Sarawak MMEA Director, First Admiral Ismaili Bujang Pit said that KM Sri Aman could carry a total of 26 crew members and would be able to store supply for up to 10 days at the sea.
“KM Sri Aman is the second one of the NGPC-type vessel to be built out of six of them built in this country which cost RM70 million each,” said Ismaili.
He also reiterated the need of Sarawak to have more patrol vessels rather than sophisticated ones. As the Sarawak waters span for 239,605 square kms, Ismaili said these vessels are much needed and to cut cost, they can be built locally in Sarawak.
“Sarawak is considered as the last frontier of Malaysia and many of these encroachers are targeting our sea due to the richness of sea produce in our waters. “If we do not take drastic measures now, we will lose all of our resources to these criminals.
“Our waters are our responsibility. Trust us, we are doing the work on the ground and we know what is happening,” said Ismaili. Also present were Deputy Chief Minister, Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, MMEA Director General Admiral Maritime, Dato’ Indera Zulkifili Abu Bakar and Demak Laut Assemblyman, Dr Hazland Hipni.
