Special legislation to empower border security agency: Zahid

BUKIT KAYU HITAM: Special legislation is to be formulated to enable the Malaysian Border Security Agency (Aksem) to enforce security control along the Malaysia-Thailand border, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
He said the draft legislation was expected to be tabled in Parliament at the end of this year.
The new act would empower Aksem to enforce the law pertaining to border security, he added.
"The preliminary draft has been prepared by the legal advisor to the Home Ministry. We will have the Attorney-General's Chambers scrutinise the draft and we will work with the states bordering Thailand before tabling it in Parliament," said Ahmad Zahid who is also the Home Minister after the launch of Aksem at the Bukit Kayu Hitam Aksem Complex here today.
"We have to obtain feedback from the state governments and the people as we want to apply the legislation for the long term," he added.
For the time being, he said, Aksem will operate as an administrative entity with the enforcement backup of the National Security Council.
The new act will enable Aksem to operate on its own in a comprehensive and more effective manner, he said.
Asked whether a new border fence would be constructed to replace the old one erected in the 1970s, Ahmad Zahid said the government would have to consider several aspects in this matter including the cost, how many problems can be resolved particularly the smuggling of drugs, firearms and subsidised goods.
The Malaysia-Thailand border stretches over 646km but only 111km of that length is fenced.
Ahmad Zahid also announced that the Malaysian Border Security Agency had been renamed Malaysian Border Control Agency, and that SAC Datuk Mohamad Ismail had been appointed its first director-general.
Mohamad was the Chief of Staff of Special Forces of the Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom).
Earlier, in his speech, Ahmad Zahid said that since Aksem went into operation last year, the value of smuggled goods seized had risen to RM42.7 million from RM19.3 million in 2014.
"In 2016, up to May 15, Aksem conducted 7,251 operations and seized smuggled goods valued at RM15.5 million, among them rice, liquor and drugs," he said.
He explained that as enforcement was an important element to ensure security and control at the country's border, the government decided that enforcement departments and agencies operating at the border cooperate through the National Blue Ocean Strategy concept.
He also urged Thailand to extend close cooperation in the sharing of information and expertise to ensure that the common border was well safeguarded.
"But to extend our cooperation, we need to translate and collaborate in terms of getting into detail our plan of action. We need to know in which area we should collaborate," he said. — Bernama