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Proposal for marine base in Kudat in 10 MP
Published on: Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Daily Express
Kota Kinabalu: The Sabah and Labuan Region of the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) has proposed the construction of a marine base in Kudat to step up surveillance in the waters of northern Sabah.
Its chief, Capt Mohd Taha Ibrahim said Kudat would be a ideal location for another MMEA base to detect encroachment of foreign fishing vessels in the coastal areas off northern Sabah.
Speaking at the MMEA community programme at Pulau Banggi in Kudat, 190km from here, he hoped the base could be built in the Tenth Malaysia Plan.
A present the Sabah and Labuan Region of the MMEA has marine bases in Kota Kinabalu, Labuan, Sandakan and Tawau.
In Sepanggar, the Operational Sea Training Exercise East or Ostex East that began Monday till Saturday will have special focus on aspects and operations of anti-piracy and anti-hijacking.
Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) Region Two commander, First Admiral Syed Zahiruddin Putra Syed Osman, said this was to ensure that the navy here was always ready even though there had been no such cases in Sabah or Sarawak waters.
This is the first of three Ostex exercises that are held each year and will involve 300 personnel, five naval vessels, an aircraft from the Royal Malaysia Air Force and a Learjet," he told reporters after officiating Ostex East 1/09 at the Kota Kinabalu RMN naval base, here, Monday.
"As all of you are aware, given the current trend due to the economic downturn, we are seeing and hearing of many piracy and hijacking activities in Somalia... recently there were cases in the Straits of Malacca and in Singaporean waters.
"So even though they have not been cases in Sabah and Sarawak waters we want to be ready. We are trained for that, if anything happens, we know how to react," Syed Zahiruddin said.
Ostex East 1/09 in the waters of Sabah and Sarawak involves three phases - the port phase Monday, the sea phase from March 24-26 and the closing phase on March 28.
The primary objective is to enhance the readiness of navy vessels to a maximum level and at the same time test the skills of sailors under the RMN Region Two command in discharging their duties.
Syed Zahiruddin said additional features of the exercise this time are port defence training and war games exercises.
"This is also the first time we are using RMAF aircraft," he said.
Besides military aspects, the exercise is also directed at social and humanitarian aid in line with the global scenario. - Bernama
Daily Express
Kota Kinabalu: The Sabah and Labuan Region of the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) has proposed the construction of a marine base in Kudat to step up surveillance in the waters of northern Sabah.
Its chief, Capt Mohd Taha Ibrahim said Kudat would be a ideal location for another MMEA base to detect encroachment of foreign fishing vessels in the coastal areas off northern Sabah.
Speaking at the MMEA community programme at Pulau Banggi in Kudat, 190km from here, he hoped the base could be built in the Tenth Malaysia Plan.
A present the Sabah and Labuan Region of the MMEA has marine bases in Kota Kinabalu, Labuan, Sandakan and Tawau.
In Sepanggar, the Operational Sea Training Exercise East or Ostex East that began Monday till Saturday will have special focus on aspects and operations of anti-piracy and anti-hijacking.
Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) Region Two commander, First Admiral Syed Zahiruddin Putra Syed Osman, said this was to ensure that the navy here was always ready even though there had been no such cases in Sabah or Sarawak waters.
This is the first of three Ostex exercises that are held each year and will involve 300 personnel, five naval vessels, an aircraft from the Royal Malaysia Air Force and a Learjet," he told reporters after officiating Ostex East 1/09 at the Kota Kinabalu RMN naval base, here, Monday.
"As all of you are aware, given the current trend due to the economic downturn, we are seeing and hearing of many piracy and hijacking activities in Somalia... recently there were cases in the Straits of Malacca and in Singaporean waters.
"So even though they have not been cases in Sabah and Sarawak waters we want to be ready. We are trained for that, if anything happens, we know how to react," Syed Zahiruddin said.
Ostex East 1/09 in the waters of Sabah and Sarawak involves three phases - the port phase Monday, the sea phase from March 24-26 and the closing phase on March 28.
The primary objective is to enhance the readiness of navy vessels to a maximum level and at the same time test the skills of sailors under the RMN Region Two command in discharging their duties.
Syed Zahiruddin said additional features of the exercise this time are port defence training and war games exercises.
"This is also the first time we are using RMAF aircraft," he said.
Besides military aspects, the exercise is also directed at social and humanitarian aid in line with the global scenario. - Bernama
