By their own admission, MMEA, Fisheries Dept cannot protect our seas: Tiong
BINTULU: Bintulu MP Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing is neither impressed nor inspired by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) and Fisheries Department.
In fact, a seemingly pissed off Tiong wants the tasks of the two enforcement agencies given to the Royal Malaysia Police’s Marine Operations Force.
In a statement made available here yesterday, the Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) president said the MMEA and the Fisheries Department are as good as their “same old and tired excuses”.
“During a dialogue session on Friday, it appeared that the MMEA and the Fisheries Department have again given the same old and tired excuses to qualify their failures to protect our seas from illegal fishing.
“Among the lame excuses are insufficient fuel for their patrol craft and shockingly, unwillingness to pursue illegal foreign vessels for fear of reprisals.
“And worst of all, they claim that upon being brought to court with sufficient testimonies and multimedia evidence, the detainees are released with no reasons disclosed,” Tiong said.
He described these remarks by the so-called maritime enforcers as “stupid and naive and in no way reassuring to the fishing community that they are duty-bound to protect”.
He stressed that these excuses mean nothing to the fishermen who risk their lives at sea as they are unarmed and unprotected.
“The quality of their training and administration seems to be worsening and not in keeping with the times. The senior officers responsible need to wake up!” he said.
Tiong reminded “certain politicians” not to just watch the problems from the sidelines, and “waiting to use these problems for political mileage”.
While emphasising that encroachment into Malaysia’s sovereign maritime territories is intrinsically abhorrent, he gave a reminder that the illegal fishermen who commit the intrusion are most likely taking orders from their superiors.
“These fishermen carry out their orders as best as they can because it is their livelihood,” he said.
According to Tiong, preventing these intrusions is very important; in fact, it is one of the main duties of the maritime authorities.
“But since, by their own admission, they do not even have the capability, it is best to transfer their tasks to the Royal Malaysia Police’s Marine Operations Force,” Tiong said.
Dialogues after dialogues on the issue were held and in vain, prompting Tiong to say they are a waste of resources and public funds while marine supplies dwindle due to illegal fishing of endangered fish species.
“The local fishing community is demanding immediate actions and tough retaliation against illegal foreign vessels,” he said.
“Our maritime enforcement continues to be the laughing stock with as many as 30 illegal foreign vessels being seen in our waters and there are claims that foreign vessels had abused the licences given to them to fish in our waters. This abuse is inexcusable and should be policed with maximum vigilance.”
He wanted to know if the minister concerned is doing something to deal with one of the most ludicrous excuses, which was “insufficient fuel for maritime enforcement operations”.
“Does the federal government intend to continue using stories of bankruptcy, rising national debt and misappropriated funds to avoid its responsibilities but then spend money on paying for yet another national car project?
“The Pakatan Harapan (PH) has often criticised the previous government (Barisan Nasional) and called for high standards of performance, but as the government today, their modus operandi seems to be closing one eye and letting the blind to lead the blind,” the MP said.
Tiong said that previously, the maritime authorities were much more active in detaining illegal fishermen and their vessels, which is a far cry from today’s shoddy performance.
“The MMEA director-general, who should be held responsible for this deteriorating performance, should have his position strictly reviewed a long time ago. The standards for his selection should have been greatly improved in order to protect the sovereignty of our maritime borders and marine resources,” he concluded.
