Last Updated: 7:18pm, Apr 07, 2014

KUALA LUMPUR (April 7): Outspoken Dewan Rakyat backbencher Datuk Seri Abdul Ghapur Salleh (BN-Kalabakan) today called for the Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) to be disbanded.

And, to replace the ineffective Esscom, he suggested for the Home or Defence Ministry to oversee security control over of Sabah's porous east coast borders.

“As suggested by Kota Kinabalu (MP Jimmy Wong), Esscom has no power whatsoever. It can't give any instruction to the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) or the Army," he said.

He was debating an emergency motion brought by Stephen Wong (DAP-Sandakan) on Esscom's failure, linking it with the abduction of two foreigners from a resort off Semporna last Wednesday.

Abdul Ghapur was one of the three MPs from BN to debate the motion. Similarly, three Opposition MPs were also allowed to debate.

"When Esscom was established, we gave a sigh of relief. Ini kalilah (This was it). Our safety will be taken care off… But such incidents are not new. It has been happening since 1979. I can't even list it here as it is too long a list," he said.

He also questioned how such an initiative to overlook an integral issue of porous and fluid borders of a state could be overseen by a ‘civilian,’ referring to Esscom director-general Datuk Mohammad Mentek.

"How can a civilian give instructions to the police or the army?" he asked.

He continued with his acerbic tirade even demanding for Deputy Home Minister Datuk Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar to step down over his comments that resorts in remote islands should be closed down as security forces cannot guarantee their safety.

He said the government should use the mandate given by the people to be more effective in tackling this issue.

"We know their answer – 'we will look into it'. But we don't want that. We are tired of listening to such promises," he said.

Stephen Wong meanwhile argued that all identity cards (MyKad) given to illegal immigrants should be taken back by the government.

He also asked for the conclusions from the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on illegal immigrants in Sabah.

Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin (BN-Kinabatangan) on the other hand defended the government for giving out the MyKads.

He reasoned that those who were given the MyKad needed to be distinguished from the "pirates" who trespassed these areas.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim replied to the queries saying that the assets for the projects will be upgraded.

"We will take appropriate action," he said in his reply.

He also added that the seven gunmen, suspected to be Abu Sayyaf members, had a "plan" in mind as the kidnapping took place hours after the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency did their regular rounds at around 7.30pm the very night.

In the Wednesday night incident, Chinese national Gao Huayuan, 29, and Filipino resort worker Marcy Dayawan, 40, were kidnapped by six unidentified gunmen at the Singamata Reef Resort.

Merely five months ago, on Nov 15, Taiwanese tourist Chang An Wei, 58, was kidnapped after a shooting which killed her husband Lim Min Shu, 57, in Pulau Pom Pom, also of the coast of Sabah.

Chang was later rescued by Philippines security forces in Sulu almost a month later.

For more stories, go to www.fz.com, the website for freedom of expression and fairness in articulation.