KUALA LUMPUR: Amendments to the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010 received a unanimous vote in the Dewan Rakyat this evening.
The amendments would ensure that poachers and illegal wildlife traders face higher penalties and longer duration of imprisonment.
Energy and Natural Resources Minister Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan said the amendment to the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010 (Act 716) was needed to address several issues, especially on enforcement actions.
The amendment of the act covered several aspects including the scope of protection on wildlife that was not in line with the current situation and technology; as there was no provision on penalty for individuals advertising sales of wildlife online.
"The amendment to the act also involved increasing the maximum fine from RM500,000 to RM1 million.
"The maximum jail term is also increased from 10 to 15 years, acting as a deterrent and lesson to offenders," he told Dewan Rakyat here today.
The bill consists of an amendment to 63 provisions, repeal of seven and introduction of five new provisions.
Takiyuddin said one of the scopes covered was the streamlining and strengthening of sentencing and penalties. This would see a jail term of three years and above to enable offences to be classified as arrestable offences in accordance with the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC).
The bill includes new provisions, namely Section 88A and 88B that provide for punishments for those who organise wildlife shows and promote wildlife.
Earlier during the debate session of the bill, Datuk Johari Abdul (Pakatan Harapan-Sungai Petani) proposed to distribute birth-control pills to address the increasing population of wild monkeys.
Johari said wild monkeys have been disturbing many villagers and some had no other solutions to address the matter without killing them and suggested the government research ways to address the overpopulation of the primates.
Datuk Abdul Azeez Rahim (Barisan Nasional- Baling) proposed to hire more wildlife officers and provide them better welfare benefits to ensure that wildlife are well protected if they encroach into human settlements when they are injured.
