L’Express in Madagascar further exposes the link among Anson Wong and other Malaysian wildlife traffickers plundering Madagascar in this front page story today:
That is the headline of this recent article in the Malay Mail. The Minister is the head of Malaysia’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and The Lizard King he refers to is Anson Wong.
The steps taken in the wake of The Lizard King case–legislative reform, administrative reform, the punishment of Anson Wong–are exactly what was needed to begin to clean up Malaysia as a trafficking hub.
What is still missing, however, is action. Especially by Malaysia’s law enforcement body, Perhilitan. What the Minister wants the public to believe is that Perhilitan will prevent more Anson Wongs from rising to power. Alas, a number of major operators are trafficking endangered wildlife in and through Malaysia right now. Where are those Lizard King Cases, Minister?
Minister Douglas Uggah Embas should have said, We will have many more Lizard King cases–all it takes–until Malaysia has purged itself of illegal wildlife traffickers.
Wildlife law enforcement in Malaysia is to be significantly revamped as a result of a major restructuring of duties and assignments in the country’s wildlife department, Perhilitan. This is a major reform, and if followed through on, marks a year in which Malaysians have taken control of their national wildlife policies.
‘Spies’ to help curb illegal wildlife trade
By P. ARUNA, The Star
aruna@thestar.com.my13 October 2010
PUTRAJAYA: The Law and Enforcement Division of the Department of Wildlife and National Parks or PERHILITAN will establish an Intelligence Unit under its massive revamp which begins this month.The Natural Resources and Environment Ministry (NRE) ann-ounced yesterday that the new unit would be formed to improve networking and intelligence gathering to curb illegal wildlife trade and crimes related to wildlife.
“In order to ensure that all loopholes are addressed effectively, all the Standard Operating Procedures related to law and enforcement activities under the department would be enhanced and strengthened,” said the ministry in a statement yesterday.
The revamping exercise will also see a swap of duties and scope of work between the two deputy director generals. (more…)