Zahid: Eastern Sabah is safe

KUALA LUMPUR: The public should not be worried about their safety in eastern Sabah as the situation has improved.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said this was made possible, thanks to the establishment of the Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) to monitor the safety of the troubled area.
He said initiatives such as appointing senior police officers to monitor the region and imposing curfews has greatly improved the area's safety.
"The situation in the Eastern Sabah Security Zone is getting safer," he said.
"The increase of foreign tourists, especially from China, is an indicator that they are confident with what Esscom is doing to safeguard the area," he told a press conference after opening the Corporate Exhibition at the Putra World Trade Centre here.
Ahmad Zahid was responding to a statement made by Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz on Monday that he would not go to eastern Sabah without bodyguards.
"I would agree to Nazri's statement if it was made a year ago. The situation at the area is much different now," he said.
Meanwhile, Ahmad Zahid said sensitive issues that could stir racial tension which was the component of the Sedition Act 1948 will be retained if it was to be replaced with a new act.
"The issues are on Islam, the position of Malay rulers, the special rights of Malay and Bahasa Malaysia as the national language," he said.
"If the Sedition Act is repealed, its initial goal, which is to protect racial harmony, will still be retained in the new act," he added.