Liew preparing to hit a gong as a symbolic launch of the gala dinner witnessed by Peter (second from right) and government officials.
KOTA KINABALU: The state government is working with a philanthropist towards the setting up of a sanctuary and research centre for the endangered pangolin in Sabah.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Christina Liew said this is part of the state government’s continuous effort to protect the wildlife in Sabah.
“The setting up of the Sabah Pangolin Sanctuary and Research Institute (SAPSARI) is in progress. Our discussions have been on the location of the facility, funding and how it will be managed.
“But before finalising it, we will have to go through the legal procedures, terms and conditions of the MoU as well as the Attorney General’s office. Then I have to present it to the state cabinet for the government to decide,” said Liew who is also Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister.
“It will be a process that will take some time. I hope to be able to do it as soon as possible. We have started the draft of the MoU,” she added.
Speaking to reporters at the World Pangolin Day dinner on Saturday, Liew disclosed that SAPSARI is the initiative of Malaysian-born philanthropist Peter Chan.
“We are thankful to Peter and the Wildlife as well as Forestry Departments who are working together to ensure that this will be a continuous project for us to protect the pangolin just like what we are doing for the other protected animals like the Orangutan and Sun bear to name a few,” she stressed.
And in light of the recent haul of live animals and parts worth RM8.4 million, Liew said that Sabahans must be aware of the severity of pangolin poaching and illegal wildlife trade.
“At this juncture, I would strongly recommend a 3E formula for combating indiscriminate hunting and senseless killing of pangolin in Sabah. The first ‘E’ would be empowerment of stakeholders in protecting these mammals.
“The second ‘E’ would be enforcement of the law against perpetrators of this despicable crime and the third ‘E’ would be Education of the public to raise conciousness of the importance of conserving the pangolin,” she pointed out.
She also urged the relevant authorities to raid eateries serving pangolin meat to tourists and added that the government welcome tip-off from the civic conscious public on such matter.
Meanwhile Peter said that people need to learn about the critically endangered pangolins therefore the setting up of SAPSARI which will care for the pangolins as well as research on the endangered animal.
On the recent case, Sabah Wildlife Department director Augustine Tuuga said that investigations are still on going as there is a lot more to be done.
“There is a lot of documentation to be collected, among others and will take some time to complete. Even sample collection for DNA identification is not completed yet,” he said when asked for an update on the case.
Police recently detained a man and seized RM8.4 million worth of live pangolins, as well as animal parts, in a raid at a godown in Kampung Bontoi, Jalan Tamparuli.
He said the raid at the warehouse was made following an earlier raid by the police and the Sabah Wildlife Department at a factory at the South Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park (KKIP) in Jalan Sepanggar-Manggata which was used to process the pangolins for their meat and scales.
In the raid at the factory, the police and Wildlife Department also seized 35 life pangolins, two sacks of pangolin scales, a digital weighing machine and a car.
The raids led to the seizure of RM8.4 million worth of live animals and animal parts, comprising 61 live pangolins, 361kg of pangolin scales, 572 frozen pangolins, three containers filled with 1,860 boxes of frozen pangolins, two animal feet, believed to that of a bear and four frozen bats.