By Karen Bong
KUCHING, Aug 26: The sacks of pig carcasses dumped into Sungai Semenggo 2 have been removed by Department of Veterinary Services (DVS) officers and handed over to Trienekens for proper disposal this morning.
Kota Sentosa assemblyman Wilfred Yap, who went down to the site to supervise the clean-up today, said the matter has been resolved and hopes such irresponsible behaviour will not be repeated.
“For members of the public affected by the smell due to the indiscriminate disposal of the carcasses, I have requested, and the DVS will arrange for disinfection of the areas.
“I appeal to the affected members of the public to be more understanding as DVS will need some time to arrange for the disinfection to be carried out due to the shortage of manpower,” he told DayakDaily in a message when contacted today.
Yap explained that the clean-up operation has met with some obstacles, including Trienekens’ insistence on the issuance of service order before disposal, but with his intervention, the matter was resolved on the grounds of urgency.
“I hope Trienekens can be more flexible on this,” he said.
On the African Swine Fever (ASF) in Sarawak, Yap assures that the authorities, including DVS, are working hard to contain the outbreak with various measures and actions being taken since it was detected sometime last year, including to minimise the losses by pig breeders.
However, he emphasised that all pig breeders need to co-operate with DVS, especially to comply with the testing procedures on their farms which is crucial in helping farms address, manage, and survive their battle with ASF.
“I once again appeal to all stakeholders for their cooperation,” he said.
Yap also hoped that armchair politicians, instead of harping on the issue, would try to facilitate by educating all stakeholders not to be selfish in their actions but to consider whether their actions are legal.
He meant to remind all stakeholders that the carcasses should never have ended up in the water or river in the first place and for it to happen showed that there is a lack of moral responsibility for the environment and community health.
Meanwhile, Democratic Action Party (DAP) member Michael Kong, on Aug 23, brought up this issue following complaints from a few residents that they spotted eight sacks allegedly containing dead pigs thrown into the river, which reeked with a very unpleasant and foul odour.
Just 24 hours after the complaint, Kong, who is also special assistant to Chong Chieng Jen, said 30 more sacks were dumped into the river as he urged the authorities to look into the matter urgently and take immediate steps to remove them. — DayakDaily
