Christina Liew
TAWAU: Former State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister, Datuk Christina Liew has called on the Sabah Wildlife Department to conduct a fair probe into reports that people, including an ex-MP, were caught by State Forestry enforcement personnel allegedly hunting in an area said to be restricted in the Maliau Basin.
The Tawau MP stressed that the rule of law must be upheld at all times whereby no one is above the law.
“All citizens are equal before the law, regardless of whether one is an MP or ex-MP. As leaders, political or otherwise, we must set a good example in safeguarding Sabah’s protected wildlife for posterity.
“In the interest of fairness, we hope there will be no cover-up of the Maliau Basin episode, and that the State Wildlife Department will be impartial in its investigation into the case within the ambit of Sabah’s Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997,” Liew said in a statement issued here, Wednesday.
She expressed concern about a media report that five sambar deer were also discovered on the “hunters” in the incident.
According to her, the sambar deer is protected under Schedule 3 of the Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997.
The sambar has been listed as a vulnerable species on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List Category since 2008.
