WEAK ENFORCEMENT AT BORDER THREATENS NATIONAL SECURITY

SINTOK (Malaysia), Feb 26 (Bernama) -- Enforcement agencies at the border
have been urged to tighten checks to safeguard national security and make the
country attractive to foreign investors.

Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Senator T. Murugiah said
for this to happen, the agencies should be equipped with the necessary
equipments, particularly scanning machines.

He lamented that the police scanning machine at the customs checkpoint at
Bukit Kayu Hitam here broke down four years ago and that such sad state of
affairs led to lax security.

One good example was the case of an officer who brought a firearm during
talks between independent power producers (IPP) and Tenaga Nasional in Bintulu
recently.

"This simply shows that security control is still weak," he told reporters
after a dialogue with security companies at a public university, the Northern
University of Malaysia (Universiti Utara Malaysia - UUM) here Wednesday.

Sintok is a small town in northern Kedah state, Malaysia, and is located
bout 52 kilometres from Alor Star City (capital of Kedah state).


Murugiah said the seizure of firearms from criminals also raised the
question as to how they managed to get into the country.

"This will not have happened if we have a scanning machine that works. I
have been told that our men at the border are scared of foreigners."

He said a training centre for government security officers and security
guards costing RM20 million would be built in Nilai, Negeri Sembilan.

-- BERNAMA