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Poaching: Many Sabah shops found selling bear items BorneoPost Online | Borneo , Malaysia, Sarawak Daily News » Sabah - New 2 Borneo

Poaching: Many Sabah shops found selling bear items

Posted: 06 Dec 2013 08:30 AM PST

KOTA KINABALU: Numerous shops in Sabah were found selling bear products, which show wildlife poaching is rampant in the state, the 5th East and Southeast Asian Wild Animal Rescue Network (WARN) Conference was told.

The event, the first in Sabah, was organised by Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) and Danau Girang Field Centre (DGFC) at Shangri-La's Rasa Ria Resort, Tuaran on Nov 26-27 and sponsored by the Malaysian Palm Oil Council, EcoOils, Sabah Tourism Board and Shangri-La's Rasa Ria Resort..

Dr Benoit Goossens, Director of DGFC and co-organiser of the conference, said a discussion on wildlife trade and poaching in Southeast Asia, with a focus on Sabah, was co-chaired by him and Dr Marc Ancrenaz from HUTAN.

"We took the opportunity to present some recent data from surveys carried out by TRAFFIC in Sabah (and other Malaysian states) on pangolin trade and sun bear bile trade," said Goossens.

"The results were astonishing, out of 21 shops visited in December 2010 in Kota Kinabalu, eight were selling bear bile products. Moreover, in a survey carried out in our State in 2012, 10 out of 24 shops surveyed were selling sun bear products. More astonishingly, a TRAFFIC report published in 2010 on pangolin trade in Sabah, including analysis of trade syndicate's logbooks seized by SWD in 2009, showed that 22,200 pangolins were traded by the syndicate in 13 months," added Goossens.

"We also have evidence of illegal hunting in several forest reserves and national parks in Sabah not only at iconic protected areas such as Crocker Range National Park, Tawau Hills National Park, Maliau Basin Conservation Area and Tabin Wildlife Reserve, but also Malua BioBank and Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary. This is extremely serious and we – government, NGOs, research institutions – need to tackle this issue as quickly as possible if we don't want to see our wildlife ending in bowls and/or in medicine products," said Goossens.

"It is paramount that the millions recently invested in our protected forests are used for wildlife protection and wildlife trade and poaching enforcement. Shall we wait for another iconic species (such as the Sumatran rhino) to disappear in Sabah before reacting?" concluded Goossens.

"WARN is a network of wild animal rescue centers, wildlife law enforcement groups and officials and animal protection groups in East and Southeast Asia," said Professor Kurtis Pei, Interim Board Chair of WARN and professor at the National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Taiwan.

"I'm very proud to say that WARN was established as a registered international NGO since August 2013 and that we have members in the following countries: Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam, and many representatives from wildlife rescue centers in those countries attended WARN 2013 in Sabah," added Professor Pei.

"The purpose of WARN is to enhance the capabilities of East and Southeast Asian wildlife rescue centres to rescue and conserve wildlife, provide conservation awareness education for the public and advocate minimum standards for wildlife rescue centres," concluded Professor Pei.

"WARN 2013 was a great opportunity to showcase our very own Wildlife Rescue Unit that was set up three years ago, a team of local boys and girls working tirelessly to save and protect wildlife in Sabah," said Dr Sen Nathan, Assistant Director at SWD, and head of the Wildlife Rescue Unit.

"Sabah sees the potential of WARN as an organisation that would be able to bridge all Asian countries together in terms of wildlife conservation matters and also assist government authorities in respective countries monitoring illegal wildlife trade," added Nathan.

"SWD is actually looking at setting up a Wildlife Enforcement Unit, working in a similar way to the Wildlife Rescue Unit, but focusing on wildlife trade, illegal hunting and bushmeat trade, using the best existing tools against wildlife smuggling and poaching and having a permanent presence in all protected areas in Sabah. We are currently looking for institutions interested to support this unit," said Datuk Dr Laurentius Ambu, Director of SWD.

"We might seem to have lost many battles, but I can assure you, the buck stops here and the war for wildlife conservation is being fought hard by a very dedicated group of people here in Sabah in whom I give all my trust to be successful in tackling the problems caused by wildlife trade and illegal hunting in our protected areas. This has to stop and we will use every means to end it," said Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment when opening the WARN conference.

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Complaints over power disruptions down 6% in Sabah

Posted: 06 Dec 2013 08:23 AM PST

KOTA KINABALU: The number of complaints on electricity disruptions in Sabah fell six per cent up to November this year compared with the same period last year.

Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) senior general manager (asset management) Muhamad Nazri Pazil said a total of 23,747 complaints on power disruptions were recorded during the period against 25,298 previously.

"The number of complaints in the first 11 months of this year fell by 1,551, or a drop of six per cent.

"The reduced number clearly showed the positive impact of the financial allocation given by the federal government to assist SESB in implementing various power infrastructure projects throughout Sabah and Labuan," he said in a statement here yesterday.

However, Muhamad Nazri said SESB's financial position is not yet strong and it still needs the funding and assistance from the government and Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB).

He said SESB was very grateful to the federal government for approving the allocation of RM265 million, which was announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak during the tabling of the 2014 Budget, to further strengthen the electricity supply system in Sabah and Labuan.

Muhamad Nazri also said the electricity tariff review recently was hoped to reduce the rising difference between the cost of power supply and the existing tariff rates.

He said prior to the review, SESB was only able to cover 80 per cent of its monthly operational costs. – Bernama

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Man dies in Tawau torching incident

Posted: 06 Dec 2013 08:22 AM PST

by Christy Chok. Posted on December 7, 2013, Saturday

TAWAU: A 24-year-old man who suffered serious burns on Thursday when trying to stop his brother-in-law from setting fire to his family home in Taman Semarak here died at about 11.30pm yesterday.

Police were still looking for Chang Kock Ying, 52, on suspicion of using two containers of petrol to torch the front of his in-laws' house after failing to persuade his estranged wife to return home.

Darwis Bin Tahang suffered nearly 95 per cent burns after the incident which occurred at about 8.15am.

District police chief ACP Awang Besar Dullah said the police are still looking for the suspect and are investigating the case under Section 302 of the Penal Code.

Chang's latest address is No. 3118 Taman Fook On, Jln Sin On.

Those with information on his whereabouts should contact investigating officer ASP Jefri Othman at 0198044444 or a nearby police station.

Investigations revealed that the suspect was in the midst of a divorce with his wife aged 40 and had gone to the house to seek reconciliation but was not successful.

The Darwis' father sustained injuries on his legs while attempting to save her brother.

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Dart attack lands man in jail

Posted: 06 Dec 2013 08:20 AM PST

by Christy Chok. Posted on December 7, 2013, Saturday

TAWAU: A 21-year-old man was sentenced to a year's jail by the magistrate's court here yesterday for causing hurt with a feathered dart when a gang attacked two brothers at a children's playground in Taman Ria 7, Jalan Utara Baru here.

Magistrate Ferhanshah Farene passed the sentence on Zamrie Bin Amat who pleaded guilty to a charge under Section 148 of the Penal Code which carries a jail term up to five years or fines or both, if convicted. The accused would be referred to the immigration department after serving his sentences.

According to the facts of the case, the accused who identified himself as Pidet, had approached with two brothers at a grocery shop at Taman Ria 3, Jalan Utara Baru here at about 3pm on September 1, 2013 in an attempt to settle a misunderstanding that occurred on August 30, 2013.

In the discussion, a friend to one of the two brothers named Ari had an argument with the accused while the other brother was trying to intervene until they came to the children's playground at Taman Ria 7.

Suddenly, a group of about 15 men came out of bushes and hit one of the brothers identified as Musmulyadi Bin Musa with wood, iron rod, flying feather and samurai.

The other brother, Mussuprato Bin Musa was hit in the abdomen by a flying feather fired by the accused when he was trying to help the victim.

After the attack, the assailants fled the scene, leaving Musmulyadi with head, eye and mouth injuries.

Inspector Mohd Hafiz Abdul Rahman prosecuted the case.

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Motorist seriously hurt in collision

Posted: 06 Dec 2013 08:20 AM PST

KOTA KINABALU: A local man was seriously injured when the Proton Saga car he was driving was hit by two other vehicles near the Bukit Padang traffic intersection yesterday morning.

In the 5am incident, it was learnt that the man, in his 40s, was trying to make a U-turn before colliding with a Toyota Rav4 vehicle that was coming from a separate direction, and a van that was tailing the victim's car failed to stop in time and rammed its rear.

The victim was pinned to his seat and had to be taken out by the Fire and Rescue Services Department who rushed to the scene after receiving a distress call.

City police chief ACP Jauteh Dikun said the victim was taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for treatment.

Jauteh urged eyewitnesses to come forward to help police in their investigation under Section 43 (1) of the Road Transport Act, 1987.

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Two Brunei 4WDs collide, 10 hurt

Posted: 05 Dec 2013 04:50 PM PST

KENINGAU: Two four-wheel-drive vehicles from Brunei were involved in a road accident at Keningau-Kimanis road, near Kampung Bariawa Ulu yesterday.

However, the passengers consisting of six women, an adult male, a girl and the drivers suffered only minor injuries in the accident that occurred at 1.40pm,

All of them received treatment at Keningau Hospital.

District Fire and Rescue Station officer-in-charge Janil Jaya said they received a call at 1.49 pm and arrived at scene at 2.12 pm.

He said when they arrived at the scene, all the victims were already out of the vehicles.

He said the incident was believed to have been caused by a faulty brake system when one of the vehicles going downhill crashed into the other vehicle, causing both vehicles to skid and overturn.

The accident occurred when a convoy of eight vehicles from Brunei was heading to Sandakan and to Kudat.

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