KUCHING: More focus and budget should be allocated for the country’s military assets to ensure the issue does not become systemic and give negative implications, said Senator Jaziri Alkaf Abdillah Suffian.
He said that any party that emphasises and highlights the agenda of the country’s security and sovereignty, especially Sarawak, from the point of view of military assets should be taken into account.
“The level of ‘obsolescence’ of the country’s military assets is already known to the public.
“The people, especially in Sarawak, were surprised to learn that there was a significant gap between Malaysia and neighboring countries in national security spending as well modernisation of the country’s military assets.
“We do not want ‘lip-service’ or reckless statements by made any parties. What we want to see is swift action taken by the government, especially the Ministry of Defence in this matter,” he said in a statement on Today (Oct 30).
“Our neighboring countries like Indonesia which has reportedly spent up to USD125 billion on their military modernisation plan and Thailand, which spends up to USD7 billion per year on average for the past five years for military procurement.
“Vietnam was once far behind Malaysia, is now able to spend up to USD5.5 billion for the country’s security sector.
“If we want to compete and ensure our country’s security and sovereignty, including Sabah and Sarawak, we should give priority to the renewal of obsolete national assets,” he stressed.
