KUCHING: When enforcing the Wildlife Protection Ordinance, the Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) must not pick and choose who to arrest, said Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr James Jemut Masing.
For example, in Kapit, he said there are illegal bird nests located in shophouses which are a nuisance to the public and very unhygienic, yet SFC choose to ignore them.
He said this made the natives feel they are being selectively persecuted by the SFC officers.
Masing was commenting on the seizure of wild boar meat sold by natives at a market in Kapit several days ago.
He said SFC must understand that the sale of wild meat especially that of babi hutan (wild boar) is for natives to earn extra income.
Moreover, he said, wild boar is not in the list of protected animals.
“In fact, wild pigs are pests to farmers and they breed very fast,” he said.
He said in Malaya where the killing of wild pigs is not encouraged, they have become a real nuisance to the people there.
On the seizure of wild boar meat at Kapit market, Masing, who is Infrastructure and Ports Development Minister and Baleh assemblyman, said the SFC officers were just enforcing the law.
“We need, however, to review our ordinance as the needs to protect wild animals have changed and so are the reasons why it was introduced in the 1990s,” he said.
