LIMBANG, March 20 — The federal government has been urged to talk to Brunei Darussalam to make Brunei Bay a common fishing ground for fishermen from both countries.
The bay is located within an area shared by Sarawak (Limbang and Lawas) and Sabah and the Brunei-Muara and Temburong districts of the oil-rich sultanate.
Sarawak Second Minister of Resource Planning and Environment, Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan said this was because local fishermen here were ignorant of the exact boundary.
“Thus, they sometimes unintentionally encroach into Brunei waters,” he said at the annual “Pesta Badudun” and Buffalo Race at SK Kampung Gadong, here, today.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi officiated at the event as part of his one-day working visit to Limbang Division.
By making it an open fishing ground, local fishermen from both countries could fish there (without fear of prosecution by each other’s authorities), Awang Tengah said.
On another matter, he cautioned the people against being influenced by groups instigating them and spreading rumours in the hope of eroding their faith in the Barisan Nasional (BN) government.
He said this group would be going round in the run-up to the Sarawak 11th state election.
Awang Tengah said if BN won all the 82 seats available, it would indicate that the people still wanted Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem to continue to lead them and the state for another five years.
“This is because the 82 BN candidates are all members of Adenan’s Team.
“There is no other way, but to be with the BN government if the people want continued progress, stability and prosperity, and to move forward,” he said. — Bernama
