Seven Sabah drug hotspots
Published on: Wednesday, May 25, 2016
Kota Kinabalu: The first phase of the Government's all-out war against drugs saw Merotai in Tawau being earmarked as one of the first 14 hotspots in the country to be purged of drugs."This is only the first phase. In total, the Government had identified 178 high-risk areas throughout the country where we will conduct various steps in order to eliminate and reduce the drugs supply and demand," said Community Development and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Jainab Ahmad (pic).She added that the operation would later be expanded to six other high-risk areas in the State, namely Sandakan (one area), Kota Kinabalu (three areas), Beaufort (one area) and Keningau (one area).ADVERTISEMENT Jainab said the existing strategy would be further strengthened through the National Drug Prevention Agency (AADK) core business with collaboration from various government departments and agencies, NGOs and the local communities.She said this after chairing the State Anti-Drug Action Council (MTMD) meeting, here, Tuesday.Jainab, who is also MTMD Chairperson, said the current efforts to eradicate drug abuse in the country is getting more complex due to global challenges."Based on the amount of drugs seized by the police, the drug threat in the country is getting more serious. ADVERTISEMENT However, I am happy with the show of support and cooperation from the public and particularly pleased with AADK for the success of their Ops Pintas."The operation detects and gives opportunities to drug addicts to turn their lives around, thanks to the many tip-offs from the public.
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"I was informed that the number of public information had increased to 586 last year, an increase of 37 per cent compared to the previous year's 368. Up until April this year, we have received 262 information," she said.Jainab said this showed a kind of paradigm shift among the local communities in their awareness on their own responsibility to alert the authority of their many problems instead of being nonchalant about them.She also reminded heads of departments and agencies to keep tab on their subordinates, especially when it was shown that the number of civil servants involved in drugs is increasing."Sometimes we are too busy with our work, we overlook these things. I also urge village chiefs and JKKK chairpersons to keep their eyes open and cooperate with the Government.Meanwhile, in terms of sexual problems in the State, Jainab said it is extremely urgent that sex education be introduced to students as well as married couples.She said this is because in this day and age, it is extremely hard to prevent young people from exploring sex, especially with the easily accessible pornography sites freely available on the Internet.On top of that, she said, sexually-transmitted diseases, including HIV and AIDS, are contracted because of lack of knowledge and the importance of safe-sex, such as refusal to wear condoms when engaging in sex."Young people are very impressionable and they will try many things without knowing the risks that come with their action.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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So we have many problems arising from these, such as baby dumping, sexual diseases and many others."Of course we are not talking about putting sex education into our education syllabus, but we can engage the help of NGOs such as Pemadam, AADK, who can go to schools to give valuable talks," she said.