By Ashley Sim
KUCHING, Feb 21: Sarawak Minister for Tourism, Creative Industry, and Performing Arts (MTCP) Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah stresses that Sarawak must update its antiquated laws to prevent unscrupulous individuals from smuggling endangered plants out of the country.
Abdul Karim told reporters this following the launch of the Borneo International Garden Expo Sarawak (BIGEXS) 2023 today, which was held at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) here.
“There are many unscrupulous people out there who will come in and pack, take the plants out of Sarawak, do the tissue culture, start producing elsewhere, and register those plants as their own to make money.
“These are the little things, and I hope that those in the field, including the media, will do their part to raise awareness so that the state government will tighten our laws on this issue,” he said.
He said a few years ago, some Russians were caught with plastic bags containing pitcher plants taken from Gunung Gading and Kubah National Parks. Still, nothing was done because the laws prohibiting taking plants from national parks were lax.
“Our laws are still archaic on this. You can quickly be released. They can just come up with all kinds of excuses which create that doubt, and they might not be able to be found guilty.
“So these are the little things because Sarawak is a melting pot for exotic plants, and we need to tighten our law on this,” he added.
Furthermore, Abdul Karim mentioned that during the last State Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting, the Sarawak government has been amending the Land Code to protect the region’s flora and fauna.
“If we are not careful, many of our rare plants will be removed. You just need to go to Singapore and walk around the Gardens by the Bay.
“If you make an effort to see where they come from, some of them say they come from Lundu and other places in Sarawak, which means that somebody must have been exporting them and making money out of it,” he asserted, adding that Sarawak does not need to create its own garden for rare and exotic plants because the entire region is already a jungle.
He continued stating, “We need to preserve our national parks. Of the 46 or 47 national parks, only 14 are open to the public, if I’m not mistaken.
“The rest are still close to the public. There’s a reason why we gazetted so many national parks. Because once you gazette it, you cannot chop the trees, kill the animals, and take flora and fauna.
“But there is always the issue, which is enforcement. Whether your enforcement is good or not, you can have all these gazettes, but if enforcement is bad, the animals will still get killed, and flora and fauna will still be taken out.”
Among others present at the launch of BIGEXS 2023 were MTCP Sarawak deputy ministers Datuk Snowdan Lawan and Datuk Sebastian Ting, MTCP permanent secretary Datu Sherrina Hussaini, BCCK executive director Tan Sri Datuk Amar Wilson Baya Dandot, BCCK director Dato Steve Ng, and Orchidwoods Company director Au Yong Kien Chung. — DayakDaily
