Liew and Bangkuai chatting with Sanjos, Ang and Chandrasehkaran.
KOTA KINABALU: Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Christina Liew welcomes the assurance by the Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCOM) that the safety and security of Eastern Sabah Security Zone (ESSZONE) is intact.
Backed by security assets, ESSCOM, a security area that covers 1,400km of the east coast of Sabah from Kudat to Tawau, is the main enforcement authority for ESSZONE, a security zone in Sabah.
Liew said such assurance will further boost international travellers’ confidence in Sabah and reinforce the confidence of existing and potential investors, adding “We want everybody to feel that Sabah is a safe and secure destination.”
ESSCOM Commander DCP Datuk Victor Sanjos gave the assurance to the Minister and all Malaysians in Sabah during the Tourism Industry Players Engagement Session 2024 at the Magellan Sutera Hotel, here, yesterday.
“ESSCOM was established after the Lahad Datu Tanduo Incident in 2013. I can assure you that ESSZONE is a safe place for all visitors and tourists to visit, and for local residents to go about their daily activities,” he told the session while explaining the safety issue and security patrol in Sabah.
Liew noted that the assurance was echoed by ESSCOM Chief of Staff (Land Operations), SAC Datuk Chandrasehkaran Muthu, and State Deputy Chief of Criminal Investigation Department (CID), ACP Ang Seow Aun.
The Minister concurred with Sanjos’ suggestion that industry players do their part in conveying the level of safety and security integrity of ESSZONE to their overseas clients or guests.
Liew, Bangkuai and government officials (seated) with tourism industry players. Standing next to Liew is Sanjos.
“Being frontliners, it is imperative that all tourism stakeholders improve their standards of operation, and extend their cooperation to law enforcement agencies in efforts to avoid disasters at sea involving tourists, such as the Mataking incident in 2023.
“Our effort to ensure the safety and security of visitors and tourists is a collective responsibility,” said the ESSCOM Commander.
Responding to a request from tourism players to replace the word “curfew”, DCP Sanjos said Sabah sea curfew has been renamed ESSZONE Movement Control Order (MCO) with effect from October 17 last year.
The ESSCOM Commander also reiterated ESSCOM’s plan to use an application called “Friends of Sabah” to ensure the safety of tourists in the ESSZONE area.
According to Sanjos, this App will facilitate tourists’ action in times of emergency.
“When needed, they can initiate an SOS call from the App (in their mobile phones) directly to ESSCOM operating centre as well as to other emergency response teams, that is, Bomba, Hospital and Police.
“By using this App ‘Friends of Sabah’, ESSCOM will be aware of their (tourists’) presence in that area. In addition to that, the ESSCOM logo colour will undergo some changes to improve the image so as to represent a safe and well-being area,” he explained.
Earlier, in her opening address, the Minister said the opportunity to welcome visitors to Sabah is almost limitless.
“However, in the pursuit of tourism growth, we need to maintain a great balance of our business acumen, care for our environment, and most importantly, to ensure we adopt best practices and standards of operations for the common good,” she pointed out.
Liew wants all tourism stakeholders to move forward together towards realising Visit Malaysia Year 2026 (VMY26).
Organised by Sabah Tourism Board (STB) at the Magellan Sutera Hotel, the engagement session served as a platform for all tourism players and stakeholders from the private sector and government bodies to engage and exchange ideas, knowledge, and information for the benefit of the State’s tourism industry. It was moderated by STB official Daniel Roman.
Also present were Assistant Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister and STB Chairman, Datuk Joniston Bangkuai, the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Josie Lai Mei Sing, Deputy Permanent Secretary I, Mary Malangking, Deputy Permanent Secretary II, Alesia Sion, Sabah Parks Director, Dr Maklarin Lakim, Sri Pelancongan Sabah Chairman, Ken Pan Ying On, Malaysia Tourism Federation President, Datuk Tan Kok Liang, STB Chief Executive Officer, Julinus Jeffery Jimit and Sri Pelancongan Sabah CEO, Thonny Chee.
