ISKANDAR PUTERI: A Johor assemblyman has proposed for a maritime base to be set up at Pulau Merambong here to safeguard the nation's sovereignty.

       Kota Iskandar assemblyman Datuk Pandak Ahmad said such a base was necessary to protect the Tebrau Straits against security threats.

       "A maritime base at Pulau Merambong, located within my constituency, can also protect marine life as the waters are a habitat for animals like dugong and turtles," he said at the state assembly sitting in Kota Iskandar here on Wednesday (Nov 29).

       During the sitting in December last year, Pandak also called for the country to look into remapping the maritime border between Johor and Singapore.

       This followed verbal disputes between local fishermen and Singapore coast guard officers in October 2022.

       Pulau Merambong is an uninhabited island off the coast of the Pontian district.