KUALA LUMPUR, Nov — The murder and abduction of Taiwanese tourists on Pom-pom Island less than one kilometre away from an Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) base exposes its inability to secure the state’s borders, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng alleged today.

Lim also added that the porosity of Sabah’s borders to incursions by illegal immigrants from the Philippines was not a new issue but has only come to light as a result of the incident.

“That such criminal acts can happen so near to the ESSCOM bases has shattered the illusion of public safety. In other words, this security breakdown has shown that there are no safe areas from attacks by such Filipino terrorists,” he said in a statement today.

Unidentified gunmen stormed the usually serene Pom-Pom Island Resort off Sabah’s eastern coast at about 1am on Friday, raiding five water villas, killing Taiwanese tourist Hsu Lim Min, 57, and abducting Chang An Wei, 58.

Yesterday, national police chief Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar refuted claims eight policemen were sleeping on the job and ignored desperate phone calls alerting them to a terrorist attack on the island that claimed the life of a Taiwanese tourist and resulted in the kidnap of the man’s 58-year-old partner.

The Inspector-General of Police also said Bukit Aman is working closely with the Philippines authorities to rescue Chang, also a Taiwanese, from a terrorist group based in the archipelago’s south, but refused to specify if it was the notorious Abu Sayyaf group.

Today, the Bagan MP also said that it is unfortunate that the authorities have neither said nor done anything that has given confidence that the terrorists will be punished and the victims rescued or that there will be no repeat of similar security breakdowns.

“If the Malaysian government cannot provide and ensure security, perhaps they should seek assistance from international bodies such as the United Nations.

“I am certain that the United Nations will reciprocate such requests for help since Malaysia has contributed much to the United Nations Peacekeeping forces throughout the world,” Lim suggested.

The establishment of Esscom was announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak on March 7 after his first visit to Lahad Datu following the intrusion incident in February.

Esscom which is headed by its director-general Datuk Mohammad Mentek, officially began operating on April 1.

Esszone, the area under the purview of Esscom, involves 10 districts, namely Kudat, Kota Marudu, Pitas, Beluran, Sandakan, Kinabatangan, Lahad Datu, Kunak, Semporna and Tawau, covering 1,400 kilometres of shoreline.

Last week, the Dewan Rakyat was told tha the proposed allocation of RM75 million in the 2014 Budget for Esscom devotes to operating expenses to strengthen its operations.