KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Crime Prevention Awareness Board president Datuk Seri Dr Saharuddin Awang Yahya yesterday said it was unfair for any quarters to simply put the blame on the Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) for every kidnapping case at any resorts in Sabah islands.
He said this was because the resort management should also shoulder the responsibility to ensure the safety of tourists, as well as its own workers.
“Instead of blaming Esscom, the resort management should start giving priority to the safety of tourists because this (kidnapping incident) involves national pride and can affect the tourism industry.
“I think, for a start, resort managements can increase the number of their security personnel to carry out periodical patrol, besides installing more sophisticated security devices, such as closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras around their resort areas,” he told Bernama when contacted here yesterday.
Saharuddin said this in response to the latest kidnapping case at a resort on Pulau Singamata, Semporna, involving a woman from China and a 40-year-old worker of Singamata Adventures Reef and Resort known from the Philippines, last Wednesday.
Saharuddin said all initiatives must be taken by the resort management because this was not the first time a kidnapping incident involving resorts occurred in Sabah. — Bernama