Malaysia - Only one Sabah pig farm using banned drug
Published:November 3, 2006
Source :Daily Express
Only one pig farm was found using the banned growth enhancement drug Beta-Agonist by the Department of Veterinary Services and Animal Industry (Dovsai) in Sabah since last year.
Dovsai Director Datuk Haji Awang Sahak Salleh said the operator of this small farm in Sandakan had stopped using the drug after a reminder by the department.
This was proven in follow-up action, including blood and urine samples of the breeding pigs, taken by the department to ensure the farm was in the clear.
"That was the only one case detected by us in Sabah since last year. As far as the department is concerned, we have not detected anymore pig farms especially the commercial ones using the drug," he said.
Nevertheless, he said, the department will continue to monitor the situation in Sabah and conduct regular random checks on the 96 pig farms that are mostly in Kota Kinabalu, Tawau and Sandakan.
Awang Sahak was asked to comment on the use of Beta-Agonist, which not only makes pork leaner but also shortens the breeding period by nearly a month, in pig farms particularly in the peninsula.
The Malaysian Pork Sellers Association, which claims to represent 3,000 pork sellers nationwide, had urged the authorities to stop what they called unfair treatment against its members over the use of the drug in pig breeding.
Its Chairman Goh Chui Lai had said that over the past three years about 20 of its members had been unfairly penalised following the detection of residues of Beta-Agonist in the meat they were selling.
Goh also said that the Veterinary Department should conduct more checks on pig farms nationwide, claiming many breeders up north were still using the drug. Beta-Agonist had been banned since 1990 by Singapore and later by Malaysia.
Awang Sahak said Beta-Agonist is also banned in Sabah.
"The department is actually already taking a proactive measure in ensuring the pig industry in Sabah remains free from the use of this illegal growth enhancement drug... majority of the farms especially those commercial ones in Sabah are free from Beta-Agonist," he said.
"We are aware of our responsibility, we will continuously conduct surveillance and randomly take samples from all the pig farms in Sabah to ensure there is no more use of the banned drug in the State," he added. He also said there had been no case of breeding pigs banned from abattoirs because of the drug.
"In Sabah there are eight private pig abattoirs which are slaughtering altogether an average of about 400 pigs daily, mostly in Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan and Tawau," said Awang Sahak.
These include the abattoir belonging to the department in Inanam whose operation has now been privatised. This abattoir slaughters an average of 200 to 300 pigs per day.
"We now have a good slaughtering facility, a modern abattoir that enables us to inspect the meat to ensure it is free from any infectious diseases and banned drugs.
"Besides that, we are also continuously monitoring and conducting checks to ensure that Beta-Agonist is not used by the farmers to fatten their pigs."
Awang Sahak said Sabah's supply is self-sufficient and there is no need to import pork or its value-added products.
Sabah, which has remained free from any infectious livestock-related diseases like the Nipah virus, has been exporting some of its pork to the peninsula since June 1 this year.
