Abdul Karim (second right) speaking to reporters. Also seen are Iskandar (right) and Sutekno (third right).
KUCHING (Oct 27): The reopening of inter-district travel has resulted in an increase in the number of crime cases including drug abuse, said National Association for the Prevention of Drugs (Pemadam) Sarawak chairman Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.
He said that during the Movement Control Order (MCO) when travel restrictions were enforced the number of cases was controlled and reduced greatly.
“That is the blessing of lockdown. But when we reopen inter-district travel, more people are on the move. Crime rate and drug abuse are on the rise. Thus, the enforcement body needs to re-plan programmes to control this situation,” he told a press conference at the Urban Transformation Centre (UTC) here yesterday.
He was speaking to reporters after a Drugs Eradication Action Council meeting held with the National Anti Drugs Agency (AADK).
On the state’s statistics, he said 422 enforcement operations were held from Jan to Sept this year which saw 901 arrests. Of the arrests, 759 persons tested positive for drugs, while the number of reports received was 722.
The number of people under surveillance up to September was 1,803, and the Narcotic Addiction Rehabilitation Centre (Puspen) has 111 inmates – 108 males and three females.
“Three areas have been identified as high risk. Of the number of people under surveillance, 51 were in Kuching, 38 in Samarahan and 44 in Miri, bringing the total to 133 people.”
He added that though the figure seemed low, he hoped all parents, teachers, community leaders, civil servants and the private sector will come together to fight this menace.
Abdul Karim, who is also Youth and Sports Minister, said the majority of drug abusers were youths and young adults aged below 40 years old, but he did not have the details on the age group breakdown.
At the meeting, three working papers were presented for consideration. They were Enabling NGOs in Drug Abuse Prevention, Drug Abuse Prevention Through Religious Institutions, and Early Intervention Programme for People Who Were Bailed.
Present were AADK director-general Sutekno Ahmad Belon and Sarawak director Iskandar Turkee.
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