KUCHING, Nov 23: Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) president Tan Sri Dr James Jemut Masing hopes that the Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) will give the Dayaks in Kapit a leeway to sell wild boar meat to supplement their income especially during the economic downturn caused by Covid-19 pandemic.
He claimed that Dayak elected representatives who had a meeting with SFC officers on the matter at the beginning of the year had fallen on deaf ears.
“The Dayaks of Kapit are crying foul when SFC officers confiscated their sale of wild boar meat including their ‘kasam babi’ (preserve wild boar meat). The old ladies and men whose livelihood depends on these sales came crying complaining to me,” Masing said in a statement issued here today.
He pointed out that even though wild boars are categorised as an endangered species in Sarawak, the species are breeding so fast that they have become pests.
“After all, wild boars are pest to rural farmers and they breed prolifically like rabbits. What’s wrong killing those pests to earn extra income by rural people?” he asked.
As such, he called upon SFC to consider the rural people’s effort to earn extra income especially during the economic slowdown triggered by Covid-19 pandemic.
Under the Wildlife Protection Ordinance 1998, it is an offence to sell or buy any wildlife or wildlife products that have been hunted from the wild anywhere in Sarawak. The penalty for selling wildlife products or wild meat without a license is RM5,000, while the penalty for buying wildlife trophies or wild meat is RM2,000. — DayakDaily
