KOTA KINABALU: Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi security threats to Sabah, previously contained to the state's east coast, have now spread to its west.
"We had previously focused on east coast of Sabah but now security is tightened as the challenges has spread to the west coast," said Zahid, who is also Home Minister.
He said intelligence reports had also indicated that a "sultanate" has placed its 'pahlawan' (warlords) in each of Sabah's state constituencies.
"Intelligence obtained suggested the presence of these 'pahlawan' from a certain sultanate in each constituency here; this constitutes a serious threat issue," he said at the Security and Public Order Seminar (SEKAM) 2016 at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) here today.
He did not mention the sultanate. However, it was speculated that it could a reference to the so-called Sulu sultanate which had intruded into Lahad Datu in 2013.
"If we (security forces) are on the front lines to defend sovereignty and mantain safety, we need the unity of the people and I believe the folks here will step up to defend their land," he said.
Meanwhile, Zahid also witnessed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) inked between the Home Ministry and Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) to cooperate on criminal, safety and public security researches.
This was done via the Ministry's Institute of Public Security of Malaysia (IPSOM) and the university's Sabah Strategic and Security Research Centre (SASSREC).
Zahid expressed hoped that findings from such seminars and collaborations between both parties would not only remain on papers but also can be practical and help form policies on national security.
UMS vice-chancellor Professor Datuk Dr Mohd Harun Abdullah also announced the appointment of Zahid as Adjunct Professor for the university under SASSREC.