Datuk Pandak Ahmad, an assemblyman from Kota Iskandar, believes that Malaysia should redraw the maritime boundary between Johor and Singapore, namely in the Tebrau Straits.
In October of this year, he proposed the change in response to verbal conflicts between local fishermen and Singapore Police Coast Guard (PCG) officers.
"The incident should not have happened. Our fishermen were not intruders.
"But they were driven away. The Singapore PCG's actions were wrong, and the state government should take quick action and file a complaint letter to Singapore "He mentioned this on Wednesday when debating the Johor budget 2023 at Bangunan Sultan Ismail (Dec 7).
A group of ten local fisherman said that they were deported by Singaporean police around 5:50 p.m. on Oct. 23 while setting up shrimp nets in the Pasir Laba region near the Second Link Bridge in Iskandar Puteri.
A video of the verbal altercation went viral, and on October 24, the fishermen filed a police report through their representatives.
Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi stated that the matter should be resolved by the authorities of both nations.
The Singapore Police Force (SPF) denied the allegations stating that they were completely false because the incident occurred in the territorial seas off Lim Chu Kang.
The SPF stated in its statement that on Oct. 23, at around 4 p.m., PCG personnel were patrolling Singapore territorial seas when they saw a number of Malaysian fishing vessels entering and departing the live-fire zone off Lim Chu Kang.
As it was illegal for unauthorised vessels to enter the live fire area, the PCG officers approached the Malaysian fishing vessels and used the boat's public address system to advise them to leave the area for their own safety.
Approximately 5.30 p.m., according to the SPF, a number of Malaysian fishing vessels approached PCG officials, and their crews voiced displeasure at being requested to leave the area.
SPF said: "Our officers stated that unauthorized vessels were not permitted to approach the area and requested that they leave for their own safety.
"5.37 p.m., following a verbal discussion, the Malaysian fishing vessels returned to Malaysian territorial seas. This exchange also occurred totally within the territorial seas of Singapore."
Comentarios