'New jet not at expense of Sabah's security'
The purchase a new government private jet was not at the expense of national security, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak said today.
Najib said this in particular reference to Sabah which is facing increasing threats from terrorist groups who launch incursions from southern Philippines with the aim of kidnapping victims and demanding ransoms.
"The security of Sabah has nothing to do with the purchase of an official jet.
"No funds meant for the security of Sabah have been diverted or reduced in order to purchase the government jet so the logic is quite mystifying," he said in a blog posting.
In March, PKR vice president Rafizi Ramli revealed the government had paid RM465 million for the 15-year hire purchase for an Airbus ACJ320 ( photo ) amid austerity measures following the collapse in global oil prices.
Subsequently, Putrajaya defended the purchase, insisting that it was not for the sole use of Najib but also for other VIPs such as the Yang di Pertuan Agong.
Former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad, a staunch critic of Najib, had slammed the prime minister for splurging on an expensive private jet instead of increasing funding to improve Sabah's security.
However, Najib in the blog posting stressed that Sabah's security was important to him.
"Because we care for security, the government established the Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) to secure the boundaries of Sabah.
"We have deployed a total of five battalions comprising of police and military troops to secure eastern Sabah. Esscom is made up of two components," he explained.
'I inherited kidnapping problems'
Najib said while Esscom has prevented fresh intrusions such as in Lahad Datu and Semporna in 2013 which saw 10 Malaysian security personnel and 68 intruders killed, random kidnappings remained a concern.
"The situation remains complex due to the nature of the insurgency in the Southern Philippines and our vast maritime border.
"The government has increased patrols and operations across the region and we will continue to do so.
"Such abductions have been occurring for decades but not much had been done previously," he said.
Najib also defended his management of the nation' security, stating that it was a problem he inherited.
"This was the security situation that I inherited and which the terrorists chose to exploit," he said.
The most recent kidnapping ( photo ) happened on May 14 in Sandakan, Sabah, where a restaurant owner and a customer were taken hostage in a daring raid from the sea and taken back to southern Philippines.
Last July, gunmen killed police personnel and kidnapped a woman from the resort island of Mabul, also in eastern Sabah.
Two women including a Chinese national were taken from a resort in Semporna in the same region in April 2014.
In 2013, a tourist was killed while his wife kidnapped from a Sipadan resort near Sandakan.
In 2000, more than 20 people including tourists were taken hostage by the notorious Abu Sayyaf at a resort also in Sipadan.
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