Govt seeks to secure Pulau Ligitan with RM300mil security outpost
KOTA KINABALU : Malaysia is looking to secure the sovereignty of Pulau Ligitan, a small island and popular diving haven off the Tawau coast, according to top federal and state government officials.
Sources from the home and defence ministries, along with the maritime industry, revealed that a two-year study had recommended the establishment of a permanent security control outpost within 1km of Pulau Ligitan, located some 50km away from Tawau.
The officials said that the plan was to fortify security at Pulau Ligitan in view of the looming external cross-border criminal threats, including terrorism, given its close proximity to both the Philippines and Indonesia.
The state and federal governments are believed to be considering a budget of up to RM300 million to develop a comprehensive outpost, including living quarters for up to 60 personnel on a 24-hour rotation.
The project, slated to be carried out by a private contractor, is understood to be awaiting government approval and budgetary allocation.
The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, revealed that the environment department is presently conducting an environmental impact assessment, while the Royal Malaysian Navy has been tasked with hydrographic mapping around Pulau Ligitan, where currently only a lighthouse stands.
'We see this as an effort to firmly secure our maritime sovereign assets in view of the growing maritime territorial disputes in the Celebes and Sulu Seas, involving Indonesia and the Philippines.
'Without effectively securing Ligitan, we cannot open the island, smaller than a football field at low-tide, for tourists and develop resorts around it, similar to what has been done at Sipadan about 28km away from it,' the source told FMT.
The government, the source added, had 'learnt its lessons' from territorial disputes involving Pulau Batu Puteh with Singapore, Limbang with Brunei and the Ambalat oil and gas sea-block in the Celebes Sea with Indonesia.
Following the Abu Sayyaf group's abduction of 21 tourists in Sipadan on April 23, 2000, and the Lahad Datu intrusion by 235 Sulu militants on February 11, 2013, the National Security Council assumed control of Sipadan and Ligitan. The islands were later handed over to Sabah's Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment on July 6, 2019.
The officials said the proposed outpost on Pulau Ligitan would be modelled after Station Lima, the forward operating facility established in 1983 on Pulau Layang-Layang (Swallow Reef) in the South China Sea.
'Ligitan's outpost is expected to include a power-generator set, reverse-osmosis system to convert salty sea-water into drinking-water, a watch-tower, firearms armoury, kitchen, dining hall, meeting room, launderette, sewage management system, fuel storage and machinery control room, jetty, wave-breaker barrier, helicopter pad and fast-interceptor and marine-park boats,' the source said.
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