Datuk Francis Harden Hollis
KUCHING (July 23):Assistant Minister of Welfare, Community Wellbeing,Women, Family and Childhood DevelopmentDatuk Francis Harden Hollis points out that the statement about the existence of a syndicate in Sarawak that distributes drugs to school students for free has been misinterpreted.
A news agency had, on Wednesday (July 21), quoted Harden as having revealed the existence of such syndicate, during a press conference when tabling the One-Stop Committee to Address Drug and Substance Abuse (OSC MIDS) Report in Kuching.
In this regard, Harden clarified that the matter stated at the press conference actually referred to incidents in other states, as reported in an article entitled ‘40 Individu Dikesan Edar Dadah Kepada Pelajar’ (‘40 Individuals Found to be Distributing Drugs to Students’), dated Nov 19 last year.
“I would like to remind all that this does not happen in Sarawak.
“I also call upon all parties to continue working together in combating drug and substance abuse in Sarawak,” said Harden in a statement today.
The assistant minister said the standard operating procedures (SOP)/permanent operation procedures to prevent schoolchildren from being involved in drug abuse and the distribution of drugs had been in force since Jan 18, 2019.
He said under the enforcement of the SOP, more detailed investigations could be conducted in the school areas.
He also noted that through the SOP, several special procedures undergone improvements to better identify individuals said to be distributing drugs to the school students.