THE Indonesian army has said one of its soldiers firing his weapon while at the food and construction material collection site in the Lun Bawang settlement of Ba Kelalan last Saturday was merely to draw the attention of truck drivers and controlling their movement.

In a report today, the Borneo Post quoted the Malaysia-Indonesia Joint Post (GABMA) chief, Indonesian army Capt Elianus Laboh saying that even though the discharge was “in accordance with (Indonesian army’s) the standard operating procedure”, the soldier nevertheless has been taken out of Malaysia, and action has been taken against him.

Laboh did not specify what kind of action was being taken.

He said at time of the incident, there were no Malaysians at the collection site near the village of Ruan Tuan, including Malaysian soldiers posted on border security duty.

He also said there were no injury reported.

The highland settlement in the Limbang division, is about 4km from the border with Kalimantan.

The collection site was set up following a request from a Kalimantan provincial governor to Sarawak Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg for food and construction materials to be delivered across the border – from Ba Kelalan to Long Midang – to make up for disruption of normal supplies caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The materials were transported from Lawas, the nearest town 150km away. They are then moved across the border to Long Midang, in the centre of Borneo.

The two countries agreed to this arrangement on humanitarian grounds. – April 21, 2021.