Accompany me to Sabah without bodyguards, Zahid tells Nazri

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has extended an invitation to Datuk Seri Nazri Abdul Aziz to accompany him to Sabah without the presence of any bodyguards, so he can gauge the security situation in the state for himself.

“I would like to invite (Nazri) to accompany me to the state without bodyguards so that he can see (the situation) for himself,” said the Home Minister.

According to Zahid, Sabah is safer now after a senior police officer was appointed to lead the Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom), disagreeing with the Tourism and Culture Minister, who said that Sabah remained unsafe to visit.

Zahid said the state was safer now compared to six months ago.

Speaking to the press at the Umno General Assembly here on Tuesday, Zahid said the recent extended two-week curfew had reinforced security at some parts of the state particularly in the Eastern Sabah Security Zone (Esszone).

“As a Home Minister, I myself had gazetted these curfews at designated times,” he said, adding that the curfews had increased the confidence of tourists, particularly those from China.

“I was informed that there have been many more tourists especially from China. This shows that they are reassured by Esscom’s presence,” Zahid said.

Nazri had recently said that Sabah was still unsafe to visit as long as cross-border kidnapping cases remained unsolved and the extended curfews only showed that the state was still under threat.

He also said he would not visit the state without the company of his bodyguards.

Nazri subsequently came under fire from key Sabah tourism players, who accused him of worsening the already-affected industry following the Lahad Datu incursion in 2013, and the ongoing cross-border kidnappings involving tourists and policemen.

Source:  The Star