CAMP PARADISE, THE KILLING FIELDS?

CHECKING…..Aminuddin, Hiew, and Laiman checking on the firing range

By : DAP MEDIA

THE FIRING range of the Kemp Paradise in Kota Belud again came ‘under fire’ on the ground that the live ammunition firing practice of the military forces had affected the kampong folks here and it is endangering their lives. There are already cases that live cannon shells had flew out of the firing target zone and hitting very close to their kampongs.

The PAS Sabah Commissioners Hj Mohd Aminuddin Aling and State Publicity secretary Hj Ag Laiman Bin Hj Ikin went with the Sabah DAP Kota Kinabalu Member of Parliament Hiew King Cheu and Vice Chairman, Edward Ewol Mujie to view the situation on site and to understand further about the complaints of the kampong folks here.

The few kampongs namely Kg Tangkurus, Kg Nahaha, and Kg Gondukut are behind the hill under direct fire, and sometimes the cannon shells can overshoot and crossed over the hill reaching the edge of the kampongs. It is horrible if the shell hits the kampong, and that is why they worried sick about being hit one day directly.

The Kg Bengukak on the right hand side and not far from the fire range is already acquired by the military for the use of the firing range, but the people still continuing to live here doing planting and grazing on this land. They are in the direction of bombardment of the firing range during the shooting practice.

Aminuddin said that the military should divert and deflect their direction of fire towards the left hand side towards the Mount Kinabalu direction where there are no kampongs and people and it is safer to do that.

The present position of the target and bombing area is too close to population and it is not sure when will there be an accident. Furthermore, the roads are closed whenever there is a practice run, which caused much inconvenient to the kampong people here.

The Sabah PAS Chief, Aminuddin also expressed that the land here should not be taken over by the military and the Ministry of Defense for the extension of the Military training ground.

They have taken many thousand of acres of good pasture land and the kampong folks are depending on these lands to feed their cattle and sheep. There are oil palms, rubber trees and other crops planted here, and they are earning a living from these. It will be very unfair to chase them out of the area.

He further added that the military should go to the jungle where there are no inhabitants and no kampongs to perform their training. Since now there are so many kampongs here in the Kemp Paradise and with a larger population, there shouldn’t be any military training allowed. This training ground must be moved and the land to be returned to the people for their use here.