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Poaching: Many <b>Sabah</b> shops found selling bear items - The Borneo <b>...</b> Berita Sabah - News 2 Sabah

Poaching: Many <b>Sabah</b> shops found selling bear items - The Borneo <b>...</b>

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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<b>Sabah</b> crime index down 4.5% - The Borneo Post Online

Posted: 12 Dec 2013 09:45 AM PST

PENAMPANG: The overall crime index in the state has dropped by 4.5 percent for the first 11 months of this year, said Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Hamza Taib.

"Burglary cases have also declined by 2.2 percent from January until November this year, while cases that have been successfully charged in court increased to 5.5 percent," he said after launching the community policing programme, themed "Fear of Crime" 2013, at Donggongon township here yesterday.

Also present were UPKO Penampang divisional chief Donald Peter Mojuntin, State deputy police commissioner P/DCP Datuk Abdul Malek Hj Harun, Crime Investigation Department (CID) chief SAC Omar Mammah, Police Training Centre (Pulapol) Sabah Pulapol commander Superintendent Mohd Azhar Hamin and Penampang police chief DSP Ratan Kumar Singh.

Hamza said the drop in crime cases in the state was partly due to commitment showed by the police and continuous support and cooperation from the public.

"We are on the right track to achieve the Key Performance Indicator (KPI) that is to reduce crime rate in Sabah," he said.

Meanwhile, Hamza said yesterday's program was a proactive move by the police to be closer to the public to prevent and combat crime.

"With the presence of police officers and personnel on the ground, the public will feel much safer and are confident that law enforcers are always nearby to protect them," he said.

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Bruneian held in <b>Sabah</b> drug raid - The Borneo Post Online

Posted: 22 Nov 2013 04:48 PM PST

The Sabah police have detained two men, including a Brunei national, in connection with the seizure of about 10kg of methamphetamine (syabu) in two raids last Tuesday, Bernama reported.

The drug was worth about RM2.4 million at street value.

When the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in Brunei Darussalam was contacted by the Bulletin yesterday, one of the officers said the NCB is still waiting for a full report from the Sabah police before they could comment.

Initial police investigations revealed the 35-year-old Brunei national was sought by the authorities in his country for criminal offences.

Speaking to reporters yesterday, Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Hamza Taib said on Nov 19, a police team was in the midst of raiding a house in Taman Nelly, Inaman when a man alighted from a car nearby about 9.30pm.

He said the police nabbed the 32-year-old when they found him carrying a bag containing two packets of syabu weighing about one kilogramme.

Later, the police found a bag containing syabu weighing 85 grammes in the master-bedroom of the house, he said, adding that a Brunei national was also picked up.

Datuk Hamza said the arrests of the two suspects led the police to raid a condominium at 1Borneo, the following day, resulting in the seizure of 8,917 grammes of methamphetamine in the master bedroom.

Subsequently, the police seized three cars and a motorcycle, all registered in Brunei, and valued at RM650,000. -Bernama

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Rep: Extend RM500 aid for flood victims to <b>Sabah</b>, Sarawak <b>...</b>

Posted: 08 Dec 2013 10:43 AM PST

MIRI: The RM500 financial assistance to be given out to each family affected by floods which was announced by the Prime Minister recently should also be extended to flood victims in Sabah and Sarawak.

Telang Usan assemblyman Dennis Ngau said the flood victims, particularly in rural areas in the state, also deserve to be given the same attention by the government.

"We hope the RM500 financial assistance announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak would also be distributed to the people in rural areas in the state who are hit by flood," he said when met here yesterday.

Dennis said even though the natural disaster is very common to the people, particularly in his constituency, it did not mean that they did not need any help from the government.

"Flood destroys not only their houses, but also most importantly their crops which they depend on to survive," he added.

As of yesterday, he said he was told that five areas in his constituency were currently hit by flood – Long Wat, Long Panai, Batu Belah, Long Bemang and Kuala Tutoh.

However, he assured that the Welfare Department and Marudi District Office were always on standby to reach areas in his constituency hit by flood.

"We advise all villagers particularly in low-lying areas to be aware at all times and be prepared to be evacuated if the flood worsens," Dennis said.

He also reminded government agencies involved in the distribution of aid to speed up their delivery so that victims would not need to wait too long for assistance to arrive.

Nevertheless, Dennis thanked the government for its effort in helping the people and lessening their burden.

"It proves that the government is sensitive to the victims and the financial assistance given would at least ease the burden of those affected," he added.

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