Talks About Thailand Legalizing Marijuana When Riau Governor Meets Malaysian Home Affairs Minister

Riau Governor Syamsuar visits Malaysian Home Affairs Minister Dato' Seri Hamzah bin Zainudin at the Malaysian Home Affairs Minister's office, Wednesday 25 May. (Between)

RIAU - Riau Governor Syamsuar visited the Minister of Home Affairs (Mendagri) Malaysia Dato' Seri Hamzah bin Zainudin. The meeting took place at the Malaysian Home Affairs Minister's office, Wednesday, May 25.

The meeting resulted in an agreement on four areas of cooperation. But apart from that, Syamsuar and Dato' Seri Hamza discussed Thailand starting to legalize marijuana starting June 9.

Responding to this, Syamsuar and Dato' Seri Hamzah agree that there must be vigilance on the part of Indonesia and Malaysia. Syamsuar also admitted that the Malaysian Minister of Home Affairs asked him to discuss the proposed program across Ministries of the Republic of Indonesia.

"Later, the Deputy Chief of Riau Police can discuss it with the Chief of the National Police. Then, the Head of the Riau BNN can report to the Head of the Central BNN. I was also asked to report to the Minister of Home Affairs Tito Karnavian," said Syamsuar in a written statement, Wednesday, May 25.

Syamsuar added, Dato' Seri Hamzah wishes to form a two-state Supervision Task Force (Satgas) which will be realized as much as possible by 2022. The Supervision Task Force is tasked with guarding coastal border areas and involving three countries, namely Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.

Furthermore, continuing the Antara report, in addition to the discussion about Thailand legalizing marijuana, Syamsuar said that there were agreements on four areas of cooperation resulting from a meeting between him and Dato' Seri Hamzah.

The agreement covers the prevention of illegal immigrants, drug trafficking, illegal fishing or illegal fishing, and roll-on-roll-off or RoRo transportation connectivity.

"In the meeting, the Malaysian Minister of Home Affairs hoped that there would be no more illegal immigrants. Indonesian workers who want to work in Malaysia must have complete documents," said Syamsuar.

"Besides that, we also discussed illegal fishing by Malaysian fishermen who entered Indonesia and Indonesian fishermen who entered Malaysia. Related to illegal fishing is also the concern of the Deputy Chief of Police of Riau," he continued.

Malaysia and Indonesia, said Syamsuar, have worked optimally in anticipating and handling illegal fishing in the sovereign territory of Indonesia and Malaysia.

"If illegal fishing occurs, we agree to help fishermen so they can return to their respective countries," he said.

He explained that illegal fishing is rare in Riau, as well as in Malaysia. However, if there is a problem, he asks that it be resolved as best as possible by the relevant agencies, such as the Navy, Police, and local government supported by the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries.

During the meeting between Syamsuar and Dato' Seri Hamzah, Riau Deputy Police Chief Brigadier General Tabana Bangun, Danrem 031/Wira Bima Brigadier General Parlindungan Hutagalung, Head of BNN Riau DP Siregar, and Protocol of the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur Rijal Al-Huda also attended.