Sabah govt looking into holistic measures to solve rampant fish bombings, says state agriculture minister

KOTA KINABALU: The state government is looking beyond tightened enforcement to solve the rampant fish bombing activities in Sabah, says Datuk Junz Wong.

The state Agriculture and Food Industries Minister said they were working with the United Nations to come up with holistic measures.

He said it was found that most of those who were involved in fish bombings were not adults and therefore, jailing them was not an option.

“First and foremost, we need to educate those involved, ” he said in regards to the recent fish bombings at Pulau Gaya. No injuries were reported.

The fish bombings in Semporna before this killed three people

Wong said the other factor that might have led to fish bombing is poverty.

“We cannot deny that in Sabah, there are still many poor people, whose meal per day could consist of only rice and a simple fish, ” he said on Monday (Feb 3).

He added that if people were not hungry, the problem could slowly be solved.

Wong said they were now working with the United Nations who are concerned with marine issues.

“We hope to be able to find some holistic measures that can be applied, but of course, all these will take time and it will need the full cooperation from all parties to make it work, ” he added.

Junz Wong, fish bombings, Pulau Gaya, Semporna