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Panic over ‘culling’ at Sarawak
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KUCHING: Unidentified individuals posing as state veterinary officials collecting chicken for culling in the Sarawak-West Kalimantan border towns has caused widespread panic among locals. Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr George Chan Hong Nam said these impostors were paying RM5 per bird to have them destroyed in the Bau, Serian and Tebedu areas. “Rumours of culling have led kampung folk to slaughter or hide their poultry,” he said. |
Dr Chan, also Minister for Agriculture Modernization, said the state was free from the avian flu, and there was no need for veterinary authorities to carry out any culling. Should there be any positive bird flu case, a quarantine and culling order would be issued and the public would be duly informed, he said. “Authorised officers with proper identification papers and properly attired with personal protective clothing and face masks will be do the culling.” |
Dr Chan said the relevant authorities had been asked to lodge police reports on the irresponsible impostors, and urged villagers to report them to the police. He said that live chicken brought into Sarawak across the border from Kalimantan would be culled. “We will continue to be vigilant as the avian flu has spread in the peninsula,” he added.
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