ESSCOM: PM calls for tighter enforcement of security in ESSCoM area

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak today spoke of the need for tighter enforcement of security in the Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCom) and the provision of a monitored passage for entry and exit in the waters off Sabah.

He said people using the passage would have to be required to pass through a checkpoint.

"Those entering or leaving outside the passage will be subjected to action from the authorities," he told reporters after opening the Taiping UMNO building here.

Najib was asked to comment on the abduction of a Chinese national manager of a cage fish breeding company in Pulau Baik off Lahad Datu last Tuesday.

He said tighter control would have to be enforced in all areas, including the 11 hotels as well as the places where Chinese nationals ran their enterprises.

Expressing regret over the abduction, Najib said the kidnappers went for Chinese nationals because of the commercial value in terms of ransom.

"Their motive is to secure a value. If they get victims with commercial value, they can demand a huge ransom. It is for this reason that they are targeting Chinese nationals or tourists," he said.

Tuesday's abduction was carried out by five men, two of them in military fatigues and two of them armed with M16 rifles.

Their victim was Yang Zai Lin, 34, of Guangzhao, a manager for three years with the fish farming company Wonderful Terrace Sdn Bhd owned by a Chinese national from Hong Kong that has been operating there since 2006.