SABAH Chief Minister Shafie Apdal wants to relocate army bases in the state to its east coast, where an ongoing security threat is imminent.

He said this was part of Parti Warisan Sabah’s campaign plan to resolve security concerns in the Eastern Sabah Security Zone (Esszone).

“We are looking at the elements. A comprehensive and detailed study as to whether the move would be practical will be carried out.

“The work won’t be easy as it involves the mobilisation of military assets and personnel into a new location, as well as the preparation of allocations and so on,” he said after meeting with the security and armed forces at Menara Tun Mustapha in Kota Kinabalu today.

Numerous cases of cross-border kidnappings by criminals from the southern Philippines have been recorded in Sabah’s east coast districts in recent years.

In 2013, slightly over 100 men identifying themselves as the Royal Sulu Army staged an armed incursion to reclaim Sabah under the orders of a self-styled Sulu sultan.

Several countries such as Europe and Australia have also raised travel advisories warning citizens from making trips into the state’s east coast districts.

The districts include Tawau, Lahad Datu, Sandakan, Kudat, Kunak, and Pitas, where an dusk-to-dawn curfew has been in place since the incursion. – May 24, 2018.