Of late a few kidnapping cases, one after another, have taken place in Sabah’s coastal area, from Semporna to Kunak.

It is difficult to believe that no ransom was paid to these militants/ kidnappers.

Simple logic would suggest that if no ransom was paid, there would be no release of hostages. The reason being that the militants/ kidnappers would not risk their lives to do it for free.  

Every time a ransom is paid and hostages are released, a new kidnapping takes place. This goes to show it has became a lucrative business trend for the militants/kidnappers.

My concern is the so-called ‘negotiator’ between the parties - militants/kidnappers and authorities - would turn out to be a permanent negotiator because of this lucrative business. This is almost the same pattern as that done by the Somalia pirates.

My suggestion is all the Sabahans living near the coastal line must be vigilant and view the current situation as very serious and life-threatening. They must form their own vigilante corps and always be in preparedness and support authorities to fight them. Pass on whatever information to the relevant authorities.

The authorities (Esscom) must reinforce or increase their personnel and zero in to collect more intelligence from the ground. The difficult challenge to the authorities will be that the intruders/ militants all look like the locals/Sabahans.  

I suggest to stop negotiating with the militants/kidnappers group and engage head-on with them by way of elimination exercises. Be forewarned - this may result in a possible loss of future hostages.

Isolate suspects or sympathisers

Isolate the suspects or sympathisers using the tested British tactic - the New Village system.

In this exercise, we need very strong support from the locals. All the respective assemblypersons or members of Parliament of the areas must support and arrange all these plans.

From the time that Esscom was formed until today, it has not been able to function efficiently. It raises the question of the actual purpose of having Esscom. Is it more for political mileage or the actual purpose for which it was formed? Strangely enough, it is noted that the director-general of Esscom is not seconded from the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) or the military. In short, he does not have the actual personnel or troops under his command. It is a very worrying point.  

I appeal to the government to seriously explore and look into the actual structure of Esscom to avoid being called a ‘lame duck’ by the rakyat. If the DG of Esscom does not perform as expected, change the leadership. This process has to take place without further delay.

To the government of the day, it is always good and proper to make available the necessary information on any issues, more so on the recent kidnapping cases in Sabah. “No ransom paid” is the official stand of the PM. But this was contradicted by the families of the victims, who have said “ransom was paid”. Therefore, the government of the day must be very careful in its official press releases.

I believe our Sabahans would never like to live in fear of being kidnapped. The red light is definitely on.

The government must decide to solve the security problems in Sabah immediately. Please take note, Sabahans are still looking for a ray of hope. They have been traumatised.

To the authorities, always report the incidents with transparency. Of course your operations plans and ideas, keep them confidential.

All Malaysians must be united to fight this. Let us support the authorities' - PM Najib Abdul Razak and the BN government - determination to address this traumatic situation.

ROBERT PHANG is chairperson of the Social Care Foundation.