Dr Xavier: Government stands firm on preserving country’s biodiversity

KOTA K INABALU: T he government is taking fi rm stand on preserving biodiversity in the country through the creation of the Biosafety Act 2007, says Water, Land and Natural Resources Minister Dr Xavier Jayakumar.

He said via the formulation of the Act, the Biosafety Department was established in 2010 which complemented the implementation of the National Biodiversity Policy 2016-2025.

“The biosafety concept did not only refer to the need to preserve biodiversity but also on human health and the environment,” he said.

He said that it was important in view of possible negative effects resulting from the rapid development of the modern biotechnology industry.

“The genetic engineering technology field, known as modern biotechnology, allows the transfer of a gene from one organism to another. In ensuring the possible risks of modern biotechnology application are at an acceptable level , biosafety analysis is essential,” he said when officiating the state-level Biosafety Awareness seminar here yesterday.

“A procedure for processing a Living Modified Organism (LMO) application was also created under the Biosafety Act and only approved LMOs were allowed to be released into the country,” he said.

Hence, he said, his ministry through the Department of Biosafety played an important role in implementing the act to regulate the release, importation, exportation and use of LMOs.

Meanwhile, at a press conference later, he said his ministry carried out close monitoring to prevent foreign LMOs from being brought into the country illegally. With the development of current technology, there were LMOs used to increase agricultural yields such as oil palm, rubber and cocoa.

He said an integrated committee was set up under the Department of Biosafety to monitor and enforce LMOs movement at entry points, fields and supermarkets throughout the country.