Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Abdul Karim (right) speaks during a press conference at Parliament in Kuala Lumpur August 11, 2020. — Picture by Miera Zulyana
JOHOR BARU, Oct 19 — A Johor parliamentarian today called on both the federal and state governments to investigate the recent incursions of Singapore military aircraft into Malaysian airspace.
Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Abdul Karim claimed the Singapore Air Force has been flying its planes low over his constituency as well as the Tebrau parliamentary constituency and that the frequency appeared to be increasing after calls for a review into the ownership of Pulau Batu Puteh.
He called for appropriate action to be taken by the government.
“Incidents of airspace invasion in our country seem to happen frequently after the federal government raised the issue to review the case of Pulau Batu Puteh or Pedra Blanca,” said Hassan in a statement.
The lawyer-cum-activist said he has received many complaints from the public, especially local residents from the Pasir Gudang and Tebrau parliamentary constituencies, this month.
“They complained to me about the frequency of sightings that the Republic of Singapore’s military planes were flying low in the airspace adjacent to Singapore,” he said.
Hassan said the areas involved were Kampung Pasir Putih, Taman Scientex, Taman Air Biru and Taman Cendana, among others.
“As the Pasir Gudang MP, I request that the federal and Johor governments take note of the alleged incident.
“I also called on both the Foreign Ministry and Defence Ministry to investigate the incident of Malaysian airspace invasion by foreign aircraft,” said Hassan.
His allegations of Singaporean military planes flying over Johor skies follows news reports last of a Malaysian police helicopter entering the republic’s airspace without authorisation.
The police confirmed that one of its helicopters had conducted a flight in airspace near Singapore on official assignment on September 11.
However, the police said it did not receive any notification from Singapore’s aviation authorities.
An Agusta Westland AW139 helicopter, with the call sign 9M-PMD, was reported to have flown over Tekong Island — the location where Singapore conducts military and national service training sessions — while on its way to Pengerang in Johor.
Singapore’s Home Affairs Ministry was reported to have registered its concerns with its Malaysian counterpart on October 5.