KOTA SAMARAHAN: The headquarters of the 31st Malaysian Infantry Brigade, Border Regiment (BR) which is currently based at Camp Junaco, Sibu is expected to be moved to Bintulu next June.

Army Commander General Tan Sri Zamrose Mohd Zain said the relocation of the brigade headquarters was in line with the assignment of the youngest infantry force in the Malaysian Army (TDM).

In addition, he said, Sibu already has another brigade base which is the Headquarters of the 9th Infantry Brigade.

“Therefore, efforts are being made to move the 31st Malaysian Infantry Brigade Headquarters to Bintulu and for the short term, we will rent a building in Bintulu to be used as the command headquarters.

“Family houses to accommodate married members are also being worked on,” he said.

He said this at a press conference after the Parade of Ranks of BR Members at Muara Tuang Camp, here, today.

Also present, Commander of the Army Eastern Field Commander, Lt Gen Datuk Mardzuki Muhammad; the Commander of the First Malaysian Infantry Division, Maj Gen Hassan Embong and the BR Chairman, Maj Gen Datuk Hamdan Ismail.

A total of 201 members of the 31 BR Brigade were promoted at the ceremony while another 28 members were awarded the National Sovereignty Medal.

Commenting further, Zamrose said that the parade was a continuation of the ceremony of the Declaration of the Strengthening of the BR Battalion as a Standard Infantry Battalion (BIS) which was held at the 30th Infantry Brigade Headquarters at Bukit Cowder Camp, Perlis on 11 August.

According to him, at the beginning of the establishment of the BR about 15 years ago, the members of the force were absorbed from the volunteer members of the Territorial Army Regiment and were only responsible as backup troops to the main infantry units such as the Royal Malay Regiment (RAMD) and the Royal Ranger Regiment (RRD).

However with the declaration as BIS, BR is now equivalent to RAMD and RRD which perform similar tasks including certain operations.

“Now we give full responsibility for Op Jaga Kawan to BR while Op Keris Parang is still being implemented by RAMD and RRD as well as other infantry support units.

“There are four BR battalions under the 31st Malaysian Infantry Brigade, which are Battalion 7, Battalion 7, Battalion 9 and Battalion 10, and the assignment of Op Jaga Kawan is carried out in turn by the four battalions,” he said.

Regarding the security situation in Sabah and Sarawak, Zamrose said that the situation in the two regions was under control with no threat that could threaten national security detected.

“We are always prepared by following the current geo-strategic developments of this region.

“Malaysia-Indonesia border control, especially in Sarawak, has now been enhanced with the operation of four new control posts while three more are under construction,” he said.