KUALA LUMPUR: The government will continue to implement Ops Naga, which is an integrated operation by various agencies to curb encroachment of foreign fishing vessels and prevent loss of the country’s marine resources, especially in Sarawak and Sabah waters.
Deputy Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ismail Mohamed Said told the Dewan Rakyat that since the operation was launched in April 2019 until Aug 17 this year, a total of 22,384 inspections had been carried out involving 416 arrests.
During the period, he said the government managed to obtain RM455,947,100 from the seizure of assets and fines imposed on owners of the foreign vessels.
“The strategic cooperation between various agencies through Ops Naga is ongoing. The operation is able to help curb the intrusion of foreign fishing vessels, especially from Vietnam, which are very active in the east coast waters as well as Sabah and Sarawak,” he said during a question and answer session in Parliament today (Oct 7).
He said this in response to a question from Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub (Amanah-Pulai) who wanted to know if Ops Naga would continue.
Meanwhile, in reply to a supplementary question from Ahmad Fadhli Shaari (PAS-Pasir Mas), Ismail said the government was planning to improve assets belonging to maritime agencies under the 12th Malaysian Plan (12MP).
“We have 247 marine assets. Under the 12MP, we will focus on improving (the assets), including in terms of procurement, so that we have the capacity to deal with foreign fishing boats that affect our country’s fish production,” he said. – Bernama
