KOTA KINABALU, Feb 3 — Sabah Parks director Maklarin Lakim said preacher Ebit Lew did not obtain permission to enter the Tun Sakaran Marine Park, which was closed under the movement control order, for a humanitarian trip to islands off Semporna.
Maklarin clarified that the preacher was criticised for this failure and for not notifying Sabah Parks about his team’s visit to the various water villages in the area, and not for the aid mission.
"They entered the park without informing Sabah Parks so our rangers were not aware of their presence or activities around the area. We had closed the park to the public during the MCO so no one can enter without special permission,” said Maklarin.
“It was a miscommunication issue. We have had other groups and NGOs go in to give aid, we do not stop that, but they went through the process of getting special permission to enter the marine park zone,” he said.
Lew yesterday announced on this social media that his visit to the Semporna islands was cut short following a warning from authorities. He had spent two days there and visited at least four Bajau Laut villages where he claimed to have converted the inhabitants to Islam and was in the process of building schools with hired religious teachers.
A statement by Sabah Parks said that Lew’s team had entered the Tun Sakaran Marine Park without prior approval and also began to erect structures in the park’s designated zone.
“This is against the Park’s gazetting laws.
“Sabah Parks had given permission to ustaz Ebit Lew’s entourage after getting notice from the National Security Council. We fully support any charitable efforts to be channelled to the community living in all of Sabah Parks premises,” it said.
The statement also stood by the actions of its officers and rangers to uphold its stand and be strict in carrying out its duties during the MCO, which is to protect the park while it is in a recuperation and recovery phase, free from visitors and tourists.
In his post to his social media following yesterday, The Pahang-born Lew said that he was told he could not continue with his visit to the islands and he could be fined RM100,000 or be jailed for three years, but did not specify who had told him that.
According to the Park’s enactment, any destruction, removal, altering, damaging or injuring of plants or corals or living creatures in the park was not allowed and no erection of structures is allowed. Failure to comply may result in fines up to RM500,000 and five years in jail.
Sabah Covid 19 spokesperson Datuk Masidi Manjun and Sabah police commissioner Datuk Hazani Ghazali both denied that the government and the police respectively had issued any directive to Lew from carrying on with his aid mission but said that he would be curfew restrictions and should seek local authorities’s advice before visiting the islands.
His 10-day humanitarian mission here had been well received by the public but recently courted some controversy after he announced that he allegedly converted almost 500 Bajau Laut villagers in Semporna, who may be stateless, into Islam.
Lew was also criticised for travelling during the MCO as the Covid-19 rages on, and was pictured not wearing any face mask when meeting the vulnerable community of Bajau Laut, also known as Pala’u.
Lew has since left Semporna for Tawau, the neighbouring district, where he visited the district hospital and police station.
