MMEA Plans to Have 12 More Bases to Cut Response Time

MMEA plans to shorten response time from 2 hours to 1 hour 

(photo : Militaryphotos)

KUALA LUMPUR, (IMP): The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) plans to beef up its firepower capacities by having at least 12 more bases nationwide to shorten response time from two hours to one hour.

Its deputy director-general (operations), Maritime Admiral Datuk Ahmad Puzi Ab Kahar said the MMEA aspired to have 30 bases throughout the country from 18 at present.

“We would like to have a base or a post at every 60 nautical miles along the coastline to enable us to swing into action quickly upon receiving information,” he told Bernama recently.

Ahmad Fuzi said the additional bases, which were earmarked for islands off the mainland like Pulau Jarak, Perak, would be equipped with a 24-hour operations room, to receive information on crimes at sea

The MMEA also has 12 radars equipped with cameras, nine of them along the west coast of the peninsula and three more in the east coast of Sabah, to track the movement of vessels involved in criminal activities, especially smuggling in Malaysian waters, he added.

“For example, we detected suspected criminals attempting to board a ship from a boat at Tanjung Piai, Johor at 1:50am last year via a radar equipped with cameras,” he said.

Ahmad Fuzi said the MMEA also capitalised on two mobile radars in hotspot areas that did not have radars with cameras like the coastline of Penang and Perak.

The mobile radars track down speeding boats through a sound detection system without the use of visual recording.

(The Borneo Post)