KUCHING, Oct 30: Sarawak Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) chairman Senator Jaziri Alkaf Abdillah Suffian has called for political parties to assert improvement on military assets, especially in Sarawak, in their manifesto ahead of the 15th General Election (GE15).
He said recently, the people, especially Sarawakians, were surprised to note that there is a massive gap between Malaysia and its neighbouring countries regarding national security expenditure and modernisation of military assets.
“Indonesia was reported to have spent about USD125 billion in their military modernisation plan while Thailand has spent an average of USD7 billion per year for the past five years.
“Vietnam, which used to lag behind Malaysia, spent USD5.5 billion for their national security.
“Thus, if we want to compete and ensure the sovereignty and security of the country, especially Sabah and Sarawak, are retained, we must be able to afford an allocation and prioritise the modernisation of the country’s obsolete assets,” he said in a statement today.
He also expressed concern over recent incidents that can be considered threatening national sovereignty, including continuous aggression from various parties, including countries with overlapping claims, the discovery of rocket debris in Sarawak, and the risk of continued threats due to the invasion of East Malaysian airspace.
“I think that special focus and budget should be allocated to ensure that this issue does not become systemic and give negative implications to the country, especially the people of Sarawak.
“We do not want ‘lip service’ or reckless statements by any party; we want to see swift action by the State and Federal governments, especially the Ministry of Defense, in this matter,” he added. — DayakDaily
