PUTRAJAYA: The ad hoc National Task Force (NTF) will no longer be maintained after June 30 and its duties of protecting the country's borders during the Covid-19 pandemic will be handed back to agencies under the Home Ministry.

       Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin said the NTF was set up at the onset of the pandemic as the Ministry needed extra support to protect the safety of the country.

       Prior to that, the Ministry’s agencies such as the police and Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency were involved in border protection.

       “Now that the Covid-19 situation has improved, the task of (protecting) our borders against trans-border crime will be fully handled by authorities under my ministry again,” he said on Thursday (Jan 13).

       To strengthen border control, he said the Ministry was developing a blueprint for land border control and looking into developing a National Border Control System.

       The government has also approved an allocation for eight new General Operations Force posts, seven in Sarawak and one in Sabah, to boost the presence of enforcement officers along the borders.

       Hamzah said an initiative which will see auxiliary police appointed by resort operators will be implemented to boost security in Sabah waters.

       He added that this will help enforcement efforts in these areas and give the residents there a sense of safety.