KOTA KINABALU: The public is advised to observe the quarantine procedure when bringing plants or any agricultural products into the state to avoid seizure.
State Agriculture and Food Industries Minister, Junz Wong, said the state government is taking precautionary measures to protect the agriculture industry and the biodiversity of flora and fauna here.
This came following a recent incident at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA), which saw fruits confiscated from passengers.
Wong said failure to observe such procedure could have severe impact on local agriculture, in particular the cocoa industry which was badly affected due to the spread of ‘Conopormopha cramerella’, a cocoa pest, brought in from a neighbouring country in 1983.
“Cocoa used to be the main agricultural produce in Sabah with over 400,000ha of plantation. However, the Conopormopha cramerella had caused mass destruction of the plants. As a result, there is only 5,500ha of cocoa farms left. It was brought into the country through illegal means.
“Another case is limau manis Beaufort which was famous in the 1980s. You can no longer find it today. The plants were badly affected by a disease called citrus greening caused by ‘Candidatus liberobacter asiaticum’ in 1989. The bacteria were transmitted through citrus fruits which were believed to be smuggled from China.
“Our staple food, rice, was also not spared from alien insects and diseases such as the Golden Apple Snail,” he said in a statement today.
As such, he said, any efforts to import plants or agricultural products must be done in accordance to the quarantine procedure.
“Imports of plants or agriculture produce are allowed, but the public must obtain import permits from the Sabah Agriculture Department before they are brought into the state.
“Please cooperate with the (department’s) quarantine division to protect our agriculture industry,” he added.
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