FWD: Heavier penalties proposed for wildlife offenders

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This article is from thestar.com.my

URL:

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2002/8/6/nation/cmwild & sec=nation

 

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Tuesday, August 06, 2002

Heavier penalties proposed for wildlife offenders

By SUSAN TAM

 

KUALA LUMPUR: Smugglers and traders of protected wildlife will soon face heavier

penalties, including a maximum jail term of 12 years and more than 100% increase

in fines.

 

The harsher punishment will be imposed under changes to the Wildlife Protection

Act 1972. The amendments, now being finalised by the Attorney-General & #8217;s

Chambers, are expected to be tabled in Parliament later this year.

 

Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) acting director for

enforcement Khairiah Mohd Shariff said stringent action needed to be taken to

eradicate Malaysia & #8217;s image as a transit point for illegal traffickers of

protected species.

 

“Presently, those caught dealing in these species are only fined between

RM6,000 and RM10,000, while the jail terms are from five to 10 years,” she said

yesterday.

 

Khairiah said said depending on the type of species traded, different penalties

were imposed but these was not severe enough to discourage unscrupulous people

in the lucrative black market.

 

“The penalties imposed in Malaysia must also be severe enough to match those in

other countries. If they do not match, at least they should be of a similar

standard,” she said.

 

Citing China for comparison, she said the death penalty was imposed on those

who caught and sold pandas illegally, while penalties for animal trafficking in

Hong Kong could come up to HK$1mil (RM487,000).

 

She said the recent spate of illegal trafficking of civets to China and python

skins for the European market last month prompted the department to come down

hard on illegal traffickers.

 

Khairiah also said Malaysia was a common transit point for dealers and

smugglers because the export of animals and their by-products was illegal in

neighbouring countries like Indonesia and Thailand.

 

“Export of animals and by-products is allowed here as long as the animals are

not categorised under the protected species list under the present Act.

 

“Smugglers or illegal animal traffickers tend to bring in their goods to be

sold to markets in other countries like China,” she said.

 

She said one of the problems the department faced was the lack of personnel to

monitor such activities, as there were too many entry points into the country.

 

“Under the proposals, the department wants to increase the number of officers

to carry out monitoring efforts and enforcement duties,” she said.

 

The changes include giving more power to lower-ranking officers to carry out

searches without warrants on individuals suspected to be involved in illegal

activities, she said.

 

Other amendments include expanding the list of protected species to include

species that were previously not listed.

 

“These include insects such as beetles, the different butterfly species and

praying mantis,” she added.

 

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