PUTRAJAYA: The abduction of two local seaweed farm workers around Pulau Sebangkat, near Semporna, yesterday should be a wake-up call for all concerned to beef up security in Sabah's waters.

Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman said although based on the assessment, the group was not organised like the Abu Sayaff, it was important for the authorities to intensify surveillance in the area.

"It's a normal robbery. (But) it's a wake-up call for us," he told reporters after the handing-over of the Malaysian Technical Cooperation Programme (MTCP) from the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) to the Foreign Ministry, here,today.

In the incident early yesterday, robbers abducted two local farm workers at a sea hut on a seaweed plantation in shallow waters around Pulau Sebangkat, about eight nautical miles from mainland Semporna.

The five men believed to be armed with at least two rifles and a machete grabbed the 40-year-old manager and a 25-year-old supervisor after robbing them.

Meanwhile in SANDAKAN, Deputy Defence Minister Datuk Dr Abdul Latiff Ahmad said the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) would assist the police if required in curbing such incidents in Sabah's waters.

He said the government was always undertaking measures to enhance security in the country's waters, especially in the eastern part of Sabah, the latest being the installation of four radars for monitoring the area.

"Four more radars will be installed at strategic locations before the year end to further enhance security," he said after officially opening the Dewan 3M at the army camp in Pulau Berhala, near Sandakan, today.

Abdul Latiff said the 3M project by the MAF provided an avenue for children on the island to learn reading, writing and arithmetic.