Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas has said that Borneo's government will reinforce its already strict quarantine measures in all the state’s 17 entry points to monitor international agriculture trade movement and to prevent entry of invasive pests and diseases.
The Minister of Modernisation of Agriculture and Rural Economy also stressed on the need to upgrade the capacity and capability of plant inspectors, as well as screening and quarantine facilities at the entry points.
“The state needs to strengthen its quarantine point to ensure adequate facilities are in place to monitor entry of agriculture products and ensure it remains free of diseases,” he told a press conference after officiating at the 9th International Conference on Plant Protection in the Tropics (ICPPT) at Hilton Hotel there on August 3.
In his speech earlier, the minister said globalisation and free trade between countries had made plant quarantine more important.
He admitted to limitations in preventing the entry of invasive pests and diseases, saying the state’s 1,107-mile long border with Indonesia presented a major challenge.
In Malaysia, incursions include moko and blood diseases of banana, Erwinia dieback of papaya, Erwinia stem canker of dragon fruit, citrus greening disease (CGD) of mandarin oranges and red palm weevil which have seriously impacted the crop industry.
In the case of dragon fruit, CGD and bacterial diseases have virtually destroyed the once lucrative industry.
“So far, Sarawak is free from the two bacterial diseases of banana and Erwinia dieback of papaya. We are taking all precautionary measures to protect our ‘clean’ status. The measures taken by the state government are to promote the use of clean banana meristem culture planting material and to discourage the use of papaya seeds from disease infected areas.
“Furthermore, the threats of mango seed weevil, red palm weevil and the noxious Mexico weed (Parthenium hysterophorus) are always there to watch out for,” he continued.
