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KOTA KINABALU: Members of the public have been asked not to jump to
conclusion on the cause of death of the 14 pygmy elephants in Lahad
Datu.
Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun told
press members after addressing his ministry’s monthly staff gathering
yesterday that it was dangerous for them to come up with an assumption
at this time unless there was strong evidence to support their argument.
“We cannot assume because the first test conducted failed to show how the elephants had died,” he said.
He added that a lot of people had mentioned the possibility that the elephants were killed by oil palm plantations.
“But the elephants died 42 kilometers from the nearest plantation.
That is very far away. So anything could have caused their deaths,” he
said.
Masidi also said it was wrong to point fingers at village folk as the culprits.
When asked if it was possible that the elephants could have been
poisoned by pesticides gotten from Indonesia,, Masidi replied that if
pesticides were used in the killing of the elephants, it would have been
apparent in the first test carried out.
“It would have been found in the lab test … if it was pesticide,
other animals would have been found dead near the locations too. But
there were none. Moreover, half of the elephants from the same herd are
still alive. If it is true that they had grazed at the same areas, all
of them would have been dead,” he explained.
Masidi added that he did not think the pesticide was dumped into the
river because otherwise they would have found dead fishes too.
Meanwhile, the samples from the dead elephants have not been sent to
laboratories in Australia and Thailand as the issue is governed by the
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
“We have to wait for their approval before we can send the samples to
Australia and to Thailand. CITES is responsible on such issues.
Moreover, the pygmy elephants are classified under Class 1 of CITES, so
we need their approval before we can ship the samples outside of Sabah.
We will be getting the approval to send the samples over to Thailand but
the approval to send the samples to Australia is still pending,” he
said.
Fortunately, the samples, which were refrigerated, can last for a long time, even years.
He stressed that they were keen on resolving the issue as soon as possible as it has garnered world attention.
Masidi then mentioned that there was still no tip-off from the public
despite the RM100,000 reward that was now being offered for the capture
and conviction of the perpetrator that had caused the elephants’ death.
“Even the police, who have tried their best, have yet to find any
lead on what killed the elephant. It is a mystery, so we need to tackle
the issue with caution. We don’t want to accuse people unnecessarily.
“Give them time. We hope there will be concrete evidence on the cause
of death. I must caution however than not all scientific knowledge can
solve problems.”
15 comments:
Ditanya kenapa tidak seorang pun daripada mereka yang ditahan mengikut ISA itu tidak dihadapkan ke mahkamah setelah dibebaskan, beliau berkata ia merupakan amalan biasa bagi semua kes ISA. Ahmad Fauzan bagaimanapun berkata kira-kira 3,035 orang yang memiliki KP palsu dihadapkan ke mahkamah.
Sebuah kawasan perlindungan, penyelidikan dan pendidikan bagi gajah Pygmy Borneo dicadangkan untuk diwujudkan di kawasan Merotai bagi melindungi haiwan berkenaan.
Pembantu Menteri Pembangunan Infrastruktur Negeri, Datuk Pang Yuk Ming berkata, isu kematian gajah Pygmy Borneo di Hutan Simpan Gunung Rara baru-baru ini telah memberi idea untuk menyediakan tapak cadangan perlindungan tersebut.
Menurutnya, cadangan itu telah diilhamkan sejak lima tahun lalu tetapi dibekukan oleh sebuah jabatan dan kini usaha itu mula mendapat tempat kembali.
“Perbincangan dengan agensi-agensi seperti Jabatan Hidupan Liar Sabah, Lembaga Pelancongan Sabah dan pengusaha-pengusaha ladang telah dibuat dan hasil yang diterima sangat mengalakkan,” katanya di sini.
Katanya, agensi terlibat dan pengusaha-pengusaha ladang telah menunjukkan sokongan terhadap cadangan tersebut kerana percaya cadangan tersebut juga akan dapat melindungi tanaman mereka dari haiwan terbabit.
“Satu ladang yang diceroboh sekumpulan gajah tersebut akan mengalami kerugian berjuta ringgit setahun dan mereka menyokong cadangan tersebut sebagai cara yang praktikal menangani masalah yang mereka hadapi,” katanya.
Pang yang juga wakil rakyat Merotai berkata pihak perladangan sanggup memberi suntikan dana bagi mewujudkan tapak perlindungan tersebut sebagai Tanggungjawab Sosial Korporat (Corporate Social Responsibility atau CSR).
“Ini adalah senario yang baik, di mana semua pihak akan mendapat keuntungan termasuklah gajah-gajah tersebut,” katanya.
Dalam hal yang berkaitan, Pang menegaskan bahawa perlindungan Gajah Pygmy perlu kerana haiwan tersebut adalah ikon daerah ini yang boleh meningkatkan lagi industri pelancongan.
“Pusat perlindungan itu akan memberi faedah yang berpanjangan keada daerah ini kerana akan membuka satu cabang baru dari segi industri pelancongan dan memberi ransangan kepada industri-industri yang berkaitan,” katanya.
Terdahulu Pang berkata, beliau terkejut dengan kes kematian 14 ekor gajah tersebut yang mendapat liputan meluas oleh media tempatan dan antarabangsa.
“Kejadian itu sememangnya amat tragik kepada semua rakyat Sabah kerana kita sepatutnya melindungi haiwan tersebut untuk generasi masa depan dan kelangsungan hidup gajah-gajah terbabit yang sinonim dengan negeri ini,” ujarnya lagi.
Katanya, isu utama bukan jumlah gajah yang mati tetapi cara kematian gajah-gajah terbabit dan jelasnya insiden membabitkan manusia diserang oleh haiwan berkenaan mungkin disebabkan tiadanya langkah perlindungan yang diambil.
No point to speculate things without knowing the truth.
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