Suspension of activities at all islands off Sabah

[DeaDLocK]

I just saw a letter posted on Facebook. It is issued by the "Council for the Security of Sabah, Prime Minister's Department", and it states that all activities and visits to all islands off Sabah are to be suspended indefinitely until further notice.

This is obviously in response to the situation at Lahad Datu.

It's probably the best thing to do, and I am trying to keep some perspective about my paid-for trip to Layang Layang in April!

 

[Progen]

You're not the only one who's worried. I have a trip to Kota Kinabalu at the end of the month. Diving at the marine park. Hope that won't be affected since it's so close to the city.

 

[Quero]

Do you have a link to that news? I haven't seen any other mention of it. Is it just a rumor or is it an official statement?

 

[Progen]

Do you have a link to that news? I haven't seen any other mention of it. Is it just a rumor or is it an official statement?

There's a post of a photo of a letter from a Sabahan defense organization going around. Checking on its authenticity now.

---------- Post added March 3rd, 2013 at 03:43 PM ----------

Can't find any information on the supposed organization or ministry's website so am going to ask a reporter friend in Sarawak to contact colleagues in Sabah for more information. Have also asked my cousin over there. That letter is starting to smell fishy.

 

[Zippsy]

Hmmmmmm..... my English isn't so good but my understanding of the attached letter seems to have a different point of view: http://sabahtourism.com/sc/d/Travel-Advisory_2March2013.pdf

 

[Progen]

As of 3rd March, 1553hrs, that news is possibly fake because a friend in a local major daily in Borneo said there's nothing received from the government departments in Sarawak (neighbour of Sabah).

---------- Post added March 3rd, 2013 at 04:03 PM ----------

Ok, now things are getting complicated because that same friend said her colleague in Sarawak who's due to fly over to Sabah next month has received a hardcopy of that letter. Hmmmmmmmmm....

 

[Quero]

I think it's likely to be a hoax. In looking at the listings of all of the councils, departments, offices, and units of Malaysia's Prime Minister's Department there is no mention of a 'Council for the Security of Sabah'. For Sabah there's the 'Office of the Federal Secretary, Sabah', and there's also the 'National Security Council' which presumably is national and not concerned with any specific state such as Sabah. Furthermore, in all internet searches I've done, there's no mention anywhere of this council except on SB.

 

[Progen]

Quero, actually, every state in Malaysia has one.

Majlis Keselamatan Negara :: Content Management System(CMS)

However, I'm still hoping that the tourism board's release which is one day after the security / internal defense's one is valid since it'll affect me if all the islands were to be closed. Also waiting for some news from my instructor who's based on one of those islands pretty near to the hot zone but I suppose if the fighting spreaded and they had to evacuate, she wouldn't be too bothered since her contract ends next week.

---------- Post added March 3rd, 2013 at 09:18 PM ----------

Ok, news update. Got a reply to my Facebook message from my instructor who's based on Pom Pom Island which is also accessed from Semporna. The islands are NOT closed yet BUT they're standing by to evacuate if there's news of danger approaching.

 

[The Wolf]

The circular did not appear to be a fake. I saw it and it appears to have the correct font and it was a fax and the directive is from the ministry of home affairs of the Prime Minister's department to sabah parks (taman taman sabah).

Message reads: temporary suspension of dive activities for all visitors to national park islands (east coast) which affects sipadan and a couple of other locations North of Sipadan.

It is not the right time to be visiting the area as there are police and army cordans and the situation is not very good for divers.

The affected areas are Lahad Datu, Semporna and Kunak which are towns/villages on the east coast of Sabah. Lots of police check points at the moment.

The problem is there are now 3 incidents and hot spots instead of just the one in Lahad Datu over the past 48 hours as 5 more police officers were killed last night when they were sent to investigate a report from villagers about strangers landing in the area.

Things might improve next week once this situation is resolved but for now, I would not suggest heading over there as it is very tense at the moment and just not a good idea to be monkeying about on islands off the coast.

I doubt anyone on the ground there has much information to share as the goverment has been pretty piss poor in getting out accurate information to the general public. The correct website to refer to is the Malaysian Police website (official) for updates and information.

Everything else is fine elsewhere on the west coast and Northern end of Sabah including Sandakan, Mount Kinabalu and the padas river..these areas are pretty far away from the 3 hot spots I mentioned and there are tons of police check points anyways between those 3 locations and the rest of Sabah.

No issues otherwise to report thus far.

 

[Quero]

And it's in bahasa malaysia so you wouldn't understand it since you don't speak bahasa.

hoot, you are clearly in an agitated state. As a matter of fact, having lived for many years in Malaysia and having worked in the Ministry of Education as a Senior Lecturer, in fact I can read Bahasa. However, I haven't seen the actual document, so I can't say that it is a hoax, but the lack of any documentation other than images from iPhones posted on Facebook doesn't add much weight to the claims, and hoaxes happen with unfortunate regularity. I have only heard third or fourth hand what it says from sources like you.

Can you attach a soft copy of the document here rather than just paraphrasing?

At any rate, thanks for the update about the police checkpoints. That's very helpful.