16 lives lost since dengue outbreak — Uggah
“We hope pet owners who had yet to vaccinate their dogs would do so. Since the outbreak, we have lost 16 lives and we do not want to lose any more,” he said.
He explained that during the operation, Kuching District would be divided into eight zones.
To encourage owners to get their dogs vaccinated, a static vaccination centre would be set up in each zone, with the details of the centres to be made known soon.
On allegations that some operation teams had trespassed into the compound of houses to tranquilise dogs, Uggah said investigations had been done on the matter.
“What actually happened was that the dogs were tranquilised by the roadside and they then escaped into people’s homes. Members of the team then entered (the compound) to retrieve the carcass.”
For the Kuching operation, he pointed out that team members would have to get signed permission from house owners to retrieve any targeted dogs that had escaped into any house compound.
Uggah also hit out at ‘certain politicians’ who had criticised past operations, saying they were ignorant of the way the operations had been or will be conducted.
“They ( politicians) just want to exploit the situation for personal political mileage,” he added.
He also said these politicians did not even know the federal government is collaborating with the state, with the National Disaster Management Agency ( Nadma) involved together with the police as the lead agency on the ground, after the outbreak was declared a Level 2 disaster.
“Putrajaya had given us a fund of RM8.9 million to add to the over RM22 million from the state. The federal Veterinary Department is helping us with 56 veterinary personnel besides providing the dog vaccines and other equipments,” he said.
Uggah also said he was happy that the various non-governmental organisations now understand the Sarawak government’s stance and are giving their full cooperation.
Minister of Local Government and Housing Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian, who was also present, said the fight against rabies was too big for any individual group to handle.
“It is a very big issue. There are some recalcitrant people out there who do not care for the law or the welfare of others,” he said, adding pet owners need to be very responsible for their pets.
Meanwhile, Crime Prevention and Community Safety Department head Supt Ang Seow Aun warned that police would take action against those making baseless allegations or spreading false news on social media pertaining to the rabies operation.
“We will also act against those obstructing the operation team from carrying out their responsibilities. We are very serious about all these,” he said.