Government may build border fences

Posted on October 12, 2013, Saturday

KUCHING: The government is studying the possibility of constructing a 5km fence at each customs, immigration and quarantine (CIQ) post in the state.

Deputy Home Minister Datuk Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said the fences would provide a sense of security and will be a statement of the governments serious outlook on issues involving national boundaries.

While the state specifically and Malaysia in general enjoy great bilateral ties with both countries with land boundaries such as Brunei and Indonesia, we cannot deny the fact that there are individuals who take advantage of the situation now where there are no existing marks to pinpoint the actual boundaries between nations, he told reporters after chairing a Boundary Safety Issues meeting yesterday.

Wan Junaidi said the current situation enables a number of illegal entry points and the 5km fence on both sides of CIQs would be a great start to beefing up border security.

What happened in Lahad Datu earlier this year serves as a great reminder to all that despite the great bilateral ties between two nations, there might be certain groups who will try to instigate or pose a threat to the nations security, he said.

Meanwhile, Wan Junaidi said the Immigration Department and National Registration Department will embark on a process to register settlers from Long Busang and Long Singut, who settled here in the 1970s but were not Malaysians.

He said some second generation immigrants have moved to other towns such as Julau, Kapit, Belaga, Tatau, Kakus and Sungai Assap, where locals have expressed concern over the matter.

We are looking at the possibility of registering them but not as citizens. The documentation process is to enable us to identify them, said Wan Junaidi, adding that there are some 4,000 of the settlers scattered around the state.

The worry by the locals now is some of them are claiming native land and a proactive step involving both Malaysia and Indonesia to solve this issue must be done.

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Government may build border fences