ESSCOM UPGRADES SURVEILLANCE POSTS

VISITS ....Director-general of ESSCOM, Datuk Mohammad Mentek (centre, without fatigues) visits the guard post in Pandanan Island on Saturday.

SEMPORNA: Upgrading basic facilities and infrastructure of surveillance posts of the security forces on the east coast of Sabah is given priority in improving border security in the country’s territorial waters.

Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCOM) director-general Datuk Mohammad Mentek said it was crucial to ensure soldiers and policemen at the surveillance posts were comfortable to enable them to concentrate on their duties.

He said the basic facilities at every post involved accommodations, water and electricity supplies and an operation office.

“We will give serious attention towards jointly boosting existing facilities at every post of the security forces.

“This is in line with our strategy to boost surveillance of the nation’s territorial waters on the east coast of the state in the ESSCOM area,” he said, here, today.

Since Thursday, Mohammad and ESSCOM officers had been visiting several posts manned by the army and General Operations Force around the waters of Tawau, Semporna and Beluran.

According to Mohammad the focus of ESSCOM during the visit was to determine the conditions of the buildings and basic facilities at the posts.

He said the visit would also boost the morale of the members of the security forces on duty.

Subsequently, he said ESSCOM would prepare a working paper to be submitted to federal agencies for allocations to upgrade the facilities at the posts.

Mohammad said the visit also found that posts manned by both the army and police, had many advantages such as sharing of assets, resources and manpower and boosting ties.

He said one such post was the one on Pulau Mataking which was built under the Blue Ocean Strategy. (BI)