Rid Sg Asap of drug menace before it gets worse, says Liwan
KUCHING: Drug abuse is too rampant in Sungai Asap Resettlement Scheme that Assistant Minister of Water Supply Liwan Lagang is sending an SOS to the enforcement authorities to send their personnel to the resettlement to rid it of the menace before it gets out of control.
He said as of now, there seemed to be no pre- emptive efforts made by the enforcement agencies, especially the police and immigration department, in curbing the social ill.
“There is an urgency for both the police and the Immigration Department personnel to rid illegal workers in Sungai Asap Resettlement Scheme as most drug pushers there are foreigners. I really hope they will consider this request as their top priority,” Liwan said when contacted yesterday.
Liwan, who is also tasked to look after the affairs of the Sungai Asap Resettlement Scheme residents, urged the enforcement authorities to come down hard on foreigners involved in the illicit trade in the settlement.
“My advice to these agencies is to buck up, otherwise the situation will go out of control, and to prevent the local people from taking the laws into their own hands as a result of the lack of enforcement,” he warned.
Murum assemblyman Kennedy Chukpai Ugon also echoed the same sentiment and hoped the number of police personnel stationed at Sungai Asap be increased from the present strength of only three personnel, and to operate during office hours.
“We will also be reactivating our Neighbourhood Watch ( Rukun Tetangga) to boost our efforts in curbing drug abuse in my area. We already have Rela and the village security and heath committees (JKKKs) in all the 15 longhouses in Sungai Asap,” he said.
Chukpai stressed there was also an urgent need for other government agencies such as the National Anti- Drug Agency and the Health Department to carry our random checks on (drug) suspects in Sungai Asap.
“This is necessary because we do not want to accuse anyone of being drug dependents if we do not have the evidence. If they are tested positive, then they should be properly dealt with including giving them proper counselling and rehabilitation.”
Chukpai added that only when the drug dependents were interrogated that the enforcement agencies could trace who the pushers were.
He said that drug dependents in Sungai Asap also included students of SMK Bakun, which is located at Sungai Asap Resettlement Scheme.
“There have been many cases of students of SMK Bakun being tested drug- positive,” he said, adding that most of the drugs sold in Sungai Asap was ‘pil kuda’.
A community leader, Pemanca Tony Kulleh went a step further by suggesting that all 15 longhouses in Sungai Asap should be properly gated to prevent bad hats from entering and influencing the villagers.
“If we have the gate, we can monitor strangers and the longhouses. This way we can have a safer living environment. After all, we have enough people who can guard the gates,” he said, adding that he would introduce the new initiative to his longhouse ( Uma Baha), which has 235 doors.
Meanwhile, when contacted, Belaga police chief DSP Melay Tingom said that his men had arrested five drug suspects at Sungai Asap on Wednesday night, including two, aged 19 and 25, having drugs in their possessions, all of them Indonesians.