KUCHING: The establishment of the Immune Belt Enforcement Team (IBET) is a long-term and continuous solution to control the rabies in Sarawak.
Noting that wild dogs can roam everywhere and spread rabies, Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg said that the team would be equipped with vehicles and advanced equipment such as drones to enable them to carry out their duties in remote inland locations.
“We are aware that such contagious diseases often affect rural areas. That is why, with the advancement of technology, wild dogs will be given a chip for tagging and tracing.
“These tagged wild dogs can still be located using the high-frequency radio even if there is no coverage.
“With all the preparations and equipment available, I am confident that the IBET team will be able to protect us from the threat of rabies brought by wild dogs from neighbouring countries,” he said when officiating IBET at Dataran Perayaan here today.
Elaborating further, the premier stated that the 108 IBET members in Sarawak would work with government agencies to maintain the areas that are strategically important to the state, noting that all of the members are local villagers who previously served in the security forces.
“With the background and experience that they have, not only will they be able to cooperate with the government agencies, but they will also be able to have close relationships with the local communities.
“In addition, I want to remind all IBET members to constantly be cautious and vigilant in carrying out your respective duties because you’ll be working with dangerous viruses and in challenging assignment areas (national borders),” he pointed out, wishing everyone well and prayed that everything would go smoothly.
