Harris: Suluks in Sabah have nothing to lose

The former Sabah CM wants Putrajaya to reach out to the community to reduce kidnappings and other untoward incidents in the state.

KOTA KINABALU: Former Sabah Chief Minister Harris Salleh has pointed out that the Suluks in Sabah needed to be handled with care. He urged the Federal Government to reach out to the community in the state which traces its origin to the Sulu Archipelago in the Philippines. “We are facing determined people who feel that they have nothing to lose.”

“Using jet fighters to strafe trees and kampung houses in the search for ‘invaders’ who are not in sight, petrifies the villagers and the enemies snigger at us.”

He was commenting on the latest kidnapping-for-ransom case in Sandakan which saw two people, a Sarawakian and the female restaurant manager, abducted from the Ocean King Seafood Restaurant. “It seems that from time to time, Malaysian Generals and the Commissioner of Police in Sabah are prone to challenging the kidnappers.”

When such challenges are issued, he warned, “they would be taken up. It becomes impossible to stop the kidnappings.”

“The government should promote better understanding and relationship with the Suluk people in view of the prevailing circumstances (in the state),” said Harris without elaborating too much. “Saying each time that kidnappings are an inside job is an admission that the authorities have failed to do their job.”

Harris added that Putrajaya should also settle the Sabah claim once and for all – in referring to the annual payment of RM5,000 to the Sulu heirs – and help to develop the Suluk homeland in the southern Philippines.

Delving into the heart of the matter, Harris said that the Directors of EssCom (Eastern Sabah Security Zone) and the Commissioner of Police Sabah should be replaced by those “who are good at handling people and have good public relations”.

“One this is done, it will definitely help reduce untoward incidents in Sabah.”

The former Chief Minister, continuing with other issues related to the Suluk, said that Federal Government funds were not properly accounted for during the Lahad Datu intrusion in early 2013 when a ragtag “Royal Sulu Army” held off security forces for nearly two weeks.

“Sabah MPs should probe reports that RM300 million was spent within a period of six months following the intrusion,” said Harris. “The transportation of armoured vehicles from Tawau to Lahad Datu, for example, cost the taxpayer RM32,000 each when the same job could be done by a 20-tonne lorry carrying two of the vehicles at RM1,500 each. It was the talk of the town.”

“The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) should be called in. Many of those involved in the operation were also promoted and upgraded. It seems that there was emotional fervour at work here.”

“The RM600 million allocated to EssCom should also be accounted for.”

The prognosis is not good, concedes Harris.

He referred to the case of the son of a senior police officer who, according to social media, was allegedly given a RM30,000 per month allowance by an arms dealer. The father, he said, reportedly had RM32 million in his bank account although he had apparently been in Sabah for only four years. “When the case came to light, according to the reports, he was merely transferred to Bukit Aman.”