THE Sabah state government will impose a curfew and travel restrictions on the waters off Lahad Datu and Sandakan in the wake of the latest kidnapping incident, according to local media.
Malaysian police had not provided details on the ban at press time, but local daily The Star reported Sabah chief minister Musa Aman as saying that the state would implement control areas where entry would be prohibited or restricted based on time, place and situation.
Chinese national and fish farm manager Yang Zai Lin was kidnapped yesterday from his workplace, Wonderful Terrace on Pulau Baik (Baik Island), about 30km south of Lahad Datu.
This kidnapping came two days after pirates attacked and robbed four fishermen on Sunday at Tanjung Labian, close to Kampung Tanduo, both of which had seen the invasion of Sulu gunmen in February 2013.
In November last year, gunmen abducted a Taiwanese tourist, Chang An Wei, and killed her husband, Lee Min Hsu, from Pom Pom Island, off Semporna (TTG Asia e-Daily, April 8, 2014). Chang was rescued 36 days later from Jolo, an island in the Philippines.
Arokia Das, senior manager at Luxury Tours Malaysia, said: “We’ve tried very hard to push the islands off Sabah to the Asian and South Asia markets but there has been no interest since the Pom Pom Island incident in November. This latest incident yesterday coupled with the intended curfew and travel restrictions is going to be a further deterrence. Holidaymakers don’t fancy visiting places where there are safety issues.”
