The Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) was established for the Eastern Sabah Security Zone (Esszone), a Malaysian security area that covers 1,400km of the east coast of Sabah from Kudat to Tawau.

It was established by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and announced on March 7, 2013 by Musa Aman, the Sabah Chief Minister. Its purpose is to strengthen maritime security in the eastern part of Sabah following the persistent attacks by pirates and militants in the southern Philippines especially after the 2013 stand-off at Lahad Datu, while at the same time ensuring that trade and business activity are not affected.

The Esscom headquarters and main bases are in Lahad Datu.

It has been observed that Esscom has incurred a few billion ringgit of assets and operational costs for almost four years without much results as intended despite a curfew in Esszone for the same period.

Kidnappings for ransom had been going on in the Sulu and Celebes seas between Esszone and Philippines despite Esscom.

Can there be a hidden agenda of sort since 2013 despite the presence of Umno in Sabah since 1994?

Actually the security/piracy scenario in the Esszone has become worse with the latest exposure by major shipping companies operating in the area that they would by-pass the Sulu/Celebes seas and instead go for a longer eastern sea passage off the Philippines.

I would like to hear from Sabah ports in Esszone how such shipping passage diversion by major shipping companies has affected the port activities in the area with the latest development.

Hasn’t enough effort been made in four years of Esscom to find a new strategy to deal with criminal activities on the open seas?

While China’s ‘wall of sand’ in the South China Sea has been much questioned, is it too much to build floating polyvinyl chloride (PVC) barriers along the sea border in Esszone to restrict free movement at all time with controlled toll/immigration/passage/approved user-gates at one or two or three points? If gas and oil pipelines can be built under the water, is it not possible to have a floating ‘fence’?

We need fast action to make the appropriate decision in Esszone to ensure security is guaranteed at all times for the prosperous businesses in eastern Sabah to return.