Malaysia to beef up patrols in Malacca Straits
20/10/2008 16:48
Malaysia will purchase more boats and helicopters and recruited additional
personnel to beef up patrol its waters in the Malacca Straits, local newspapers
reported today.
The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency will acquire 20
speedboats and three helicopters to enable it to patrol Malaysian waters
effectively.
The speedboats would be bought from Turkey and arrive next
year.
Malaysia needed to beef up its patrols to ensure its borders were not
encroached into, said Hasan Malek, Malaysian Deputy Minister in the Prime
Minister's Department.
This was also to ensure the Malacca Straits, one of
the busiest shipping routes in the world, was safe, he said.
Hasan also said
the agency hoped to recruit more personnel as it had three stations in the
Malaysian peninsula and one each in the eastern states of Sabah and
Sarawak.
Xinhua
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