KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 19 — The police spent RM22.9 million during the armed Sulu incursion in Lahad Datu, Sabah, last year that killed 10 members of Malaysia’s security forces, a deputy minister said today.
Deputy Home Minister Datuk Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar told Parliament that the expenses were broken down into 10 areas, but did not elaborate on them.
“The expenses borne by PDRM during the Lahad Datu intrusion totalled RM22,875,800.45,” Wan Junaidi said during Question Time, using the Malay initials for the police force.
Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said last June that he will check with the National Security Council on whether the government will table a White Paper on the intrusion by militants from southern Philippines.
In February last year, some 200 armed militants sailed over from South Philippines to Kampung Tanduo in Lahad Datu, where they set up camp for a month to stake their claim on Sabah in the name of Sultan Jamalul Kiram III of the now-defunct Sulu Sultanate.
The Sulu Sultanate has for decades been pursuing its claim over Sabah, arguing that the region had been part of the sultanate’s empire and was only leased to the British prior to the creation of Malaysia.
The incursion ended with several days of armed conflict with Malaysian security forces, with over 70 filipino gunmen and 10 Malaysian security officers reportedly killed in the fighting.
After the standoff, Putrajaya set up the Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) to coordinate security forces — Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM), Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM), Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agencies (MMEA) — to ensure safety in the porous borders of Sabah.
