Border wall at Sg Golok still at proposal stage, says Saifuddin

 

Home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail at the opening of an immigration complex in Kuala Kedah today. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: 

The construction of a border wall along the Malaysia-Thailand border at Sungai Golok in Kelantan is still in the proposal stage, said home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.

Saifuddin stressed that the government takes a serious view of national border security issues and a fence has long been in place along the border, reported Bernama.

He also said his ministry is currently conducting a trial of CCTV cameras to be installed along a 40km stretch of the northern border in Padang Besar, Perlis, with plans in the works for drone trials.

“These are the innovations we are implementing for border control,” he told reporters after opening an immigration complex in Kuala Kedah today.

“Fencing is one approach, and the use of various technologies is another that we need to explore.”

He said that while national border security proposals are frequently discussed, it is up to the National Security Council, which is chaired by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, to approve such proposals.

On Tuesday, deputy menteri besar Fadzli Hassan said the Kelantan government will propose the construction of a 100km wall along Sungai Golok, which he said would curb smuggling and illegal border crossings.

He said most of the land at the border is privately owned, which made it difficult for the authorities to combat smuggling. These smugglers enter and exit via the border through unregulated and hard-to-control routes. - FMT