Impose curbs on sale of formalin
Published on: Thursday, October 01, 2015
Kota Kinabalu: Sabah Anglers Association President Datuk Wilfred Lingham has urged the authorities to strictly monitor the sale and distribution of formaldehyde (formalin) in the market. "Sabah Anglers Association are going to organise a formalin free fresh fish mega sale. The purpose of this mega sales is to carry a very important message."We will carry this slogan to carry a message about the danger of formalin tainted fish in all our markets and not just to sell fishes.
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"These markets are in our capital city and particularly in the outlying districts and sold in the rural areas such as Ranau, Keningau, Tambunan and Tenom.He said unfortunately due to the pressure of selling the fish and keeping their losses down, fish sellers try to keep their fish 'fresh' as long as they can but unfortunately they use formalin, a chemical used for preserving dead bodies to do it.Pointing out how international and local studies have shown that formaldehyde (formalin) can induce cancer in the human body and that it has been classified scientifically in the United States as a carcinogenic substance, Lingham urged the authorities to monitor its use locally.In clarifying who the authorities were, he said he did want to directly identify them but felt that when the stories are published in the newspaper, people who read it will understand who are the authorities who are responsible for monitoring and controlling the use of formalin.
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"I still can't understand why the authorities appear to be silent on this problem all this while." He said this at a press conference to announce the formalin free fresh fish mega sale event here Tuesday."We are going to suggest two actions which we believe should be taken seriously by the relevant authorities.
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"The first is that the import of formalin be restricted to only those who are registered to use the chemical so that no one can simply pick it up at markets near Safma because one can easily buy liquid formalin at one of the seafront shops near Safma."Since I believe there is already a legislation in place, it's a question of implementing or enforcing on its usage. We need political will here. "Secondly the use of detection devices to detect formalin in the fish. I was told that such a device had already been invented in the country to detect formalin in fishes. Unfortunately I was informed privately that they could not get the device in Malaysia. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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