KUALA LUMPUR: The Forestry Department is mulling a proposal to arm its officers working near international borders in efforts to assist security forces in patrolling the area.
Its director-general Datuk Seri Dr Abd Rahman Abd Rahim said the proposal was to enhance border security, particularly near the Malaysia-Thailand border.
“Currently, our staff are only equipped with machetes and compasses. They only wear trekking or jungle expedition attire.
“We are considering having our staff who are placed near the porous borders to have suitable working gear and tools such as guns, combat boots and bulletproof vests, as a
measure to aid security authorities guarding the international borders,
” he told the New Straits Times yesterday.
Rahman suggested that the
international borders should be clearly marked, especially in the jungles.
“Our borders should be clearly marked and fenced.
“This way, security personnel can easily distinguish patrol areas and report suspicious activities occurring in these areas.”
State department directors in Kedah, Perak, Perlis and Kelantan have also been alerted to work
closely with the police and army as well as to start mapping state and international borders, said Rahman.
He said even the Johor director had been told to have his men
to be on alert at mangrove areas
near the Malaysia-Singapore bor-der.
The recent discovery of graves in Wang Kelian, near the Malaysia-Thailand border, had raised many unanswered questions relating to national security.
Police were probing the possibility that enforcement officers, including rangers from the Forestry Department, were conspiring with human traffickers.
On Wednesday, it was reported that the police had detained 37 people linked to human trafficking since early this year.
The police believe that the perpetrators behind the migrant camps and mass graves in the deep jungles of Wang Kelian were among those detained.
Inspector-General of Police
Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said
that they did not discount the possibility of border enforcement and Forestry Department officers being involved.
Rahman, however, stressed that border security was not the responsibility of his department and said they were ready to shoulder the responsibility together with the police and the army.
“To date, no department staff had been called and none of them have been found to be in cahoots with human traffickers.
“(Border security) is something new to us, but we are ready to commit and take on the responsibility together with the authorities,” he said.
Meanwhile, Khalid said the department’s proposal for its staff to be armed when working near international borders could be considered, provided that the department provided sufficient justification for such a move.
He urged all parties to stop
pointing fingers at each other and not to find weaknesses and faults regarding the discovery of the graves.
“When things happen and a
discovery is made, everyone starts
to point fingers and put the blame on each other, saying that this person did not take action and
others are not doing their work,” he said.
On claims by non-governmental organisations that the force
had known about the Wang Kelian camp and graves, as family members of human trafficking victims had provided information years ago, Khalid said there had been no evidence to support the claims as police were not provided with locations.
The camps and graves were only discovered after police launched an operation to search for possible camps for human trafficking victims following the discovery of mass graves and a large camp in Thailand, not far across the border from Wang Kelian.