To avoid U-turn, Sabah police stay cautious on pump boat ban

Police were urged to consider a ban on pump boats after a kidnapping in September.

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah police will need to study the use of pump boats carefully as it does not want to make a hasty view before tabling the proposal to the state government.

State police commissioner Omar Mammah said a thorough study is needed as the use of pump boats is subjective, adding the police want to avoid further policy U-turns.

While many have voiced concerns that pump boats could be a security threat, he said, they are also at the same time the main type of transport for local fishermen who depend on them for a livelihood.

“We don’t want that if we ban it today, then tomorrow we legalise it again and then when something happens, there will be finger pointing.

“People will start blaming fishermen and then we ban it again. If that happens, it shows we don’t have a firm decision,” he said to reporters after launching a bilateral meeting between the Malaysian marine police and Philippine national police here today.

Last month, Omar said he had been instructed by Chief Minister Shafie Apdal to take another look at the use of pump boats in the state following the kidnapping of three fishermen in waters off Lahad Datu, near the Malaysian-Philippine border.

Omar Mammah.

He said Shafie had contacted him soon after masked gunmen used two pump boats to approach two fishing vessels and escaped with the trio and their boat to the Tawi-Tawi chain of islands in the southern Philippines.

Shafie had announced in September last year that the state government would lift the ban on the usage of pump boats to help poor fishermen in coastal areas.

The use of pump boats was outlawed by the previous Barisan Nasional administration in April 2016 to enhance security in the Eastern Sabah Security Zone (Esszone).

On the bilateral meeting with the Philippine police, Omar said they had discussed on ways to strengthen joint efforts to enhance maritime security between the two countries.

He said Malaysian police cannot afford to deploy its personnel at every nook and corner of the border and would need help from their Philippine counterparts.

“That’s why this cooperation is so important. Our counterparts in the Philippines can help us cover our blind spots,” he said. - FMT