KUCHING: There is a serious need to have a first response team attached at the northern part of Miri, especially at the Mulu National Park.
Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said this in response to the 66-year-old Dutch tourist Peter Hovenkamp who was found dead at Mulu National Park following a flash flood.
The victim went missing since Friday evening, and the body was found at 6.40am yesterday.
“To prevent such incidents from happening, I feel there is a real need to upgrade the facilities and also have an efficient response team because there are many tourists coming to Mulu National Park,” he told reporters after chairing a press conference on the World Rainforest Music Festival (RWMF) 2019 at Sarawak Cultural Village (SCV) yesterday.
He said the incident occurred at (Gua Rusa) in the Mulu National Park, and looking at the number of mishaps which happened before at the vicinity of the park, there must be a first response team to cater to incidents such as when people fall when climbing the cave or get lost in the jungle.
“We do not have a good response team, therefore we (state government) will look to initiate it and personally I feel this comes under the purview of the federal government too,” he stressed.
He said the first response teams are trained to attend to matters when there is oil and gas disasters or incidents in the hills.
On the cause of the incident, Abdul Karim said it was possible that a small reservoir could have burst and caused the water to rush into the cave.
“It is a very unfortunate incident. I have informed my permanent secretary to ensure all efforts are made to assist the family.”
Meanwhile, authorities are still locating the missing 20-year-old tourist guide, Roviezal Robin.
