PARLIAMENT A BN lawmaker today urged the government to declare the Sabah East Coast waters a security zone and shoot any boat and ship that enter Sabah waters.

Jumat Idris (BN-Sepanggar) made the request following last Friday's abduction in Ligitan waters by a group of armed gunmen.

"Close the territorial waters between Malaysia and the Philippines, and declare it a security zone so that we can fire at any vessels that enter our waters," he said.

"This way, we can destroy (the kidnappers) once and for all," he said during an emergency debate on the Sabah abduction.

He also asked the government to send its warships to the borders of the Philippines, similar to what Indonesia did to save 10 Indonesians abducted by militant group Abu Sayyap.

He noted that Indonesia had sent five warships and two jets for the rescue mission.

Meanwhile, Shafie Apdal (BN-Semporna) has called for the government to issue a white paper on ways to address the Sabah kidnapping issue.

It was very embarrassing that the abductions keep on happening one after another, he noted.

"I regret (that this had happened), I had raised the matter when I was still a cabinet member that (we) should not take things for granted," he added.

Shafie, who was removed from cabinet since July 2015, then pointed out that the radar wasn't functioning.

He urged the government to seriously engage with its Philippines counterpart to resolve the issue.

“If we were willing to work with the Middle East army, (which) pledges war against Islamic State (IS), for God's sake, this is our country, our people come first.

“Can't we work with the Philippines government ?” he said, urging the foreign ministry to work with Philippines.