Pay for damage caused by marauding elephants — rep

KOTA KINABALU: Sukau assemblyman Datuk Saddi Abdul Rahman has called on the Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) and the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that had been voicing to the world every time an elephant is killed to help pay for the oil palm trees belonging to the villagers at Kampung Litang that were destroyed by a large herd of elephants last month.

“More than 100 elephants encroached into their farms and destroyed all the trees that they have planted some three to four years ago, which means that these trees have begun to bear fruits,” said Saddi of the incident which happened a month ago, at the State Assembly sitting yesterday.

“When one elephant is killed, they make so much noise. But when an entire village gets attacked by a herd of elephants, they are very quiet. Not a sound,” Saddi lamented.

He reminded that the villagers affected were not affluent people but the poor who depended on the production of the farms where they toiled.

Saddi also urged the SWD to come up with a system to ensure the elephants do not return to the village.

“The herd of elephants not only destroyed the farms, but they stayed on for weeks. Fortunately, no lives were lost...and now, I heard that the elephants are coming back,” he said.

And to add salt to the wound, he said the SWD only sent three of its personnel to chase away the large herd of elephants.

Saddi also called on the State Government to provide assistance to the people at the village citing that elephant attacks can also be deemed as a natural disaster deserving of government assistance.

“If there is flood, the government will send assistance, but not when a village is attacked by elephants,” he lamented.