SEMPORNA: Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein is leading a high powered entourage visiting two key security posts off here.
Together with senior officers from the ministry and the armed forces, Hishammuddin will be visiting Pulau Pandanan and the Tun Sharifah Rodziah sea basing forward bases.
Accompanying him are Joint Task Force Commander Lt General Datuk Baharom Hamzah, Eastern Command Commander Lt General Datuk Mohd Zaki Mokhtar and Eastern Joint Task Force 2 Commander First Admiral Syed Zahrul Putra Syed Abdullah among others.
The entourage will be inspecting the security posts which comes under the Ops Pasir (Pandanan and Sipadan Island Resorts) and operative launched in 2000 after the infamous kidnappings by Abu Sayyaf terrorists from southern Philippines.
The two forward bases supports the Ops Pasir operations, logistics and administration apart from being part of the Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) defence component.
Esscom was launched in 2013 following the Lahad Datu intrusion by followers of the self-proclaimed Sulu Sultanate also from southern Philippines.
Hishammuddin will also be given updates on initiatives taken to beef up security in the east coast of Sabah from cross border crimes and deployment of assets such as assault boats, coastal radar, infrastructural and facilities upgrade.
The sea basing serve as integrated forward bases that are strategically placed under the Eastern Sabah Safety Zone (Esszone) and supports operatives such as Ops Pasir and Ops Sanggah which was launched by Esscom to stave off cross border criminals.
Both bases are placed near the international border and locations identified as routes frequently used by criminals.
The Tun Sharifah Rodziah base is a decommissioned oil rig turned into security asset in July along with the Tun Azizan forward base, a ship with a similar defence role in May this year.