Terengganu govt views island food poisoning claims seriously, says exco rep

KUALA TERENGGANU: The Terengganu government views seriously claims that six friends suffered food poisoning while on holiday at Pulau Perhentian Kecil in Besut, believed to be due to contamination by untreated sewage, recently.

State Tourism, Culture and Digital Technology Committee chairman Ariffin Deraman (pic) said the departments involved had been instructed to take samples of the water as well as to conduct immediate monitoring on the issue.

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“The state government views the matter seriously, especially when it comes to the safety of tourists, and if the allegations are found to be true, it will certainly give a negative image to the state's tourism industry,” he said in a statement Monday (June 6).

Indirectly, he said, it would affect the confidence of tourists to visit the resort islands in Terengganu.

However, Ariffin said it was understood that thus far the state health department and the Besut district health office had not received any report on the case.

He said the results of a check on food poisoning incident data from 2021 until Sunday (June 5), also found that there were no reports of food poisoning cases that occurred in Pulau Perhentian.

On Saturday (June 4), a news portal reported that six friends had claimed that they suffered food poisoning and were taken ill after swimming in waters believed to be contaminated with untreated sewage at Pulau Perhentian Kecil.

All of them claimed to have started vomiting later that evening. They were on a two-night trip to the famous island. - Bernama