MEDIA FRIENDLY: Wong (third row, third left), Lo (third row, second left) in a group photo with reporters, staff of Sarawak Forestry Corporation and community leaders during the recent police-with-media programme organised by Lundu district police in collaboration with Sarawak Forestry Corporation.
LUNDU: The close cooperation between the police and local residents here has resulted in the area being declared almost crime-free for the past two months.
Lundu district police chief DSP Wong Chee Keong said from January to February this year, the district only recorded three minor crime cases, which was a record for the district police.
Wong complimented the local residents for the close cooperation provided to the police.
“We don’t have many crime and illegal activities such as illegal immigrants and illegal logging here because the local residents are the eyes and ears for the police. They will always provide information to the police whenever there is anything unhealthy going on in the district,” he said.
Wong said this recently during his welcoming speech at the two-day police-with-the-media programme organised by Lundu district police in collaboration with Sarawak Forestry Corporation to commemorate the 205th Police Day.
“The moment you arrive in Lundu district, you can feel the peace because there are no unhealthy activities committed here. The peace that we are enjoying is good for us to help promote the tourism industry and local economic activities,” he highlighted.
Despite the low number of crime cases recorded in the district, Wong assured the people that the police would still conduct investigations into cases that are reported, no matter how small they may be.
TURTLE CONSERVATION: A staff (right) of Sarawak Forestry Corporation briefs reporters and photo journalists on the sea turtle egg conservation effort during their visit to Talang-Satang Island. — Photos by Jeffery Mostapa
ON DUTY: Police personnel from the 11th Battalion of General Operations Force patrolling the area in Teluk Melano.
IN SAFE HANDS: Reporters and photo journalists take a boat to board a Marine Police vessel.
GROUP PHOTO: Wong (fourth right) with reporters and photo journalists, police personnel and Sarawak Forestry Corporation staff at Samunsam Wildlife Sanctuary.
LIGHT MOMENT: Wong (second left) shares a light moment with village folk at Kampung Teluk Melano.
TOTALLY PROTECTED: Talang-Satang Island.
In an interview later, Lundu Chinese community leader Pemanca Lo Sin Li complimented the police for their tireless effort in ensuring peace and security in the district which has a population of about 34,000.
Lo stated that security in the district had been very good for the past four to five years, which had helped to boost the tourism industry in the area.
“The tourism activities here, especially in Sematan, are very good during the weekend. We have both local and foreign tourists coming here,” he added.
For the tourists, Lo highlighted that they could experience local life by staying at several homestay programmes at Kampung Terusan Jaya, Kampung Tanah Hitam, Kampung Pueh and Kampung Teluk Melano.
Besides the homestay programme, he said tourists could also opt to stay in resorts like Palm Beach Resort, Holiday Village, Sematan Resort and Sematan Hotel.
After the welcoming event, reporters and photo journalists, accompanied by Wong and several other police personnel, were brought to visit Samunsam Wildlife Sanctuary.
Established in 1979, the 22,000ha sanctuary is one of the oldest wildlife sanctuaries in the state.
It was named after the Samunsam River, and the main objective of its establishment was to conserve the habitat of wildlife such as proboscis monkeys, terrapins, birds, aquatic animals and reptiles such as crocodiles.
As a totally protected area, Samunsam Wildlife Sanctuary is a restricted place for conservation and research purposes only.
After the sanctuary, the next destination was Kampung Teluk Melano where reporters and photo journalists were brought to visit several locations, including the police post manned by the 11th Battalion of the General Operations Force (PGA)
headed by Insp Shaike Faiqzal Johari.
According to Wong, the police did not face any problem in their daily operations at the post as several measures had been taken to maintain security in the area.
He said one of the measures was to require Indonesians crossing the border to Teluk Melano to register with the police post.
“They (Indonesians) are only allowed to go up until Kampung Teluk Melano and they cannot go further to Sematan. If they want to go to Sematan, they are required to have passes and report themselves to the Immigration Department’s office in Sematan,” Wong stated.
Besides requiring the Indonesians to register themselves, he said boat operators plying between Teluk Melano and Sematan were also required to keep records of Indonesian nationals using their services and police would conduct routine checks on their record books.
Reporters and photo journalists were also given the opportunity to visit Tanjung Datu National Park and Talang-Satang National Park.
They spent a night at Tanjung Datu National Park, where the police held their ‘Majlis Malam Mesra Program Polis Bersama Media’.
The next day, they were invited to join the various programmes organised to commemorate the Police Day such as jungle trekking and visit to the lighthouse at Tanjung Datu.
After that, the media personnel were brought to Talang-Satang National Park, better known as Sarawak Turtle Sanctuary.
With an area of about 19,450 hectares comprising four islands, the park was established primarily to conserve marine lives, especially the sea turtles.
It is also a totally protected area, and only those with permission from Sarawak Forestry Corporation like researchers, students, conservation organisations and participants of the sea turtle adoption programme are allowed to enter the park.
The national park records an average of between 2,000 and 3,000 nests of sea turtles laying their eggs every year.
Considering that the survival rate for sea turtles is very low at 0.001 per cent (one in one thousand), Sarawak Forestry Corporation has taken the initiative to conserve 100 per cent of the sea turtle eggs.