PKR: Government’s incompetence glaring

What's the point of spending billions on defence when it is not used in the face of armed provocation and invasion, asks Baru Bian

KUCHING: Sarawak PKR, perturbed by the armed invasion of Lahad Datu, has questioned the government’s efficiency and competence in handling the security situation in Sabah.

“When Sabah was a colony, the incursion by Suluk pirates was treated for what it was – gang robbery – and the Lahad Datu police, despite having few men and insufficient weapons, dealt with it swiftly and the pirates fled,” said State PKR chief Baru Bian.

“Now over 50 years later, Malaysia has an army, a navy and an air force as well as a vastly larger and better equipped police force, to say nothing of two Scorpene submarines costing billions of ringgit, at least one of which is based at the Sepanggar naval base near KK, Sabah.

“And yet, and what happens when a large group of armed invaders land on our shores and proceed to occupy a village in Lahad Datu? Nothing! Feeble discussions are held with these invaders on our sovereign territory in the hope they can be persuaded, or bribed, to leave. Is this what world leaders do in the face of armed provocation and invasion?” he asked.

Bian who is the Ba’Kelalan assemblyman further asked: “Can and will Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and other responsible ministers explain how this state of affairs has come about? How did these men manage to land undetected by our security forces with all their sophisticated and expensive equipment?

“How did they remain undetected whilst they took over a village? How long had they been in occupation of the village before our defence and intelligence forces woke up to their presence?

“Explain why these men have not been arrested. Better still, explain why billions of ringgit have been spent on military, naval and air force equipment if it is not used when our country is invaded?

“And also explain why we have a bloated defence capability that costs hundreds of millions a year to maintain if it cannot be used when a situation necessitates it?

“Najib should resign at once,” said Bian. “The chiefs of the armed forces should resign for their failure to deal with an invasion. The IGP should also resign for failing to gather the necessary intelligence in advance and for failing to arrest the invaders.”

“If all these pople go and go now it may be possible to recover our national reputation and, more importantly still, discourage any future such attempts. The invaders should be arrested and brought before our courts for trial and punishment.

“It seems that our PM lacks not only wisdom to lead the country but also courage, tenacity and sheer grit to defend it from invaders! What a precarious state our nation is in today,” he said.