KOTA KINABALU: There is a need for stringent punishment to deter fishermen from committing offences involving fish bombing.
The Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on illegal immigrants in Sabah heard that the current punishment of a maximum RM20,000 fine or a jail term of up to two years or both under Section 26 (1) of the Fisheries Act was not enough to curb the activity.
Head of the Sabah Fisheries Department’s Legal and Enforcement Branch Mohd Yusoff Anthony Abdullah said fish bombing was widely practised by fishermen, mostly foreigners, whether they were illegal immigrants or had proper documentation.
“Fish bombing could destroy the coral ecosystems which is a breeding ground for fish and other marine life. We also received reports that divers’ hearings could be damaged because of the loud sound when fish bombs explode underwater,” he said.
Meanwhile, a chairman of a Village Development and Security Committee (JKKK) told the inquiry he denied one Amir Syed Abdullah was his cousin’s son.
JKKK chairman of Kampung Panagatan Laut in Keningau Steven @ Lahamin Wasibin said he lodged a police report on Dec 12, 2012 for authorities to verify the 19-year-old’s place of birth.
“I have never seen this person in my village. I was shocked to discover on Facebook that this person was born in my village,” he said. According to Steven, his cousin married a Pakistani by the name of Abdullah Mahmood, who obtained a Malaysian identity card in the 1980s, and have one son, named and that the name was not Amir Syed.
When conducting officer Datuk Azmi Ariffin told the witness that the father of Amir Syed admitted to having three sons with his cousin, Steven said he has seen three teenagers at his cousin’s house, but insisted his cousin gave birth to only one child. The RCI panel is headed by former chief judge of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Steve Shim Lip Kiong.
The other panel members are former University Malaysia Sabah vice chancellor Professor Datuk Dr Kamaruzzaman Ampon, former Kuala Lumpur police chief Datuk Henry Chin Poy Wu, former Sabah state secretary Datuk KY Mustapha and former Sabah deputy chief minister Tan Sri Herman J Luping, who is also former state attorney-general.
The inquiry continues today. — Bernama