By Olivia Miwil - August 20, 2021 @ 2:32pm
KOTA KINABALU: The United States (US) is committed to assist the Sabah government, particularly in wildlife and environmental preservation.
US ambassador to Malaysia Brian D McFeeters said wildlife, the environment and climate change were big issues for the country.
"We thank Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor for the cooperation we have with Sabah.
"Sabah is well known around the world, it is part of Borneo, with a unique biodiversity, and we are interested in preserving and preventing destruction of the environment and the illegal killing of animals," he said during a virtual press conference.
Wigh regard to preserving wildlife, the US has a USD1 million (RM4.2 million) grant to be used in a development and investigation capacity, as well as enforcement to prevent loss of wildlife.
This he said was to help ensure the preservation of Sabah's unique biodiversity, adding that the state's unique biodiversity could be part of a solution for global climate change issues that could benefit the world including the US.
The grant, McFeeters said was provided over a year ago, and is also to help develop inter-agency capacities for international cooperation to look into the forensic and investigative needs to prosecute wildlife crime.
Apart from conservation efforts, the ambassador said in his five-day virtual trip to Sabah starting Monday, he had also highlighted the issue of Covid-19 and public health to Hajiji.
"We reiterated that the US is very proud that we were able to provide 1 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in July.
"Specifically for Sabah, the US government provided RM3.5 million to boost Covid-19 testing and another RM2 million to purchase ambulances."
On security issues, McFeeters added that the US government was impressed with the security measures taken by the Malaysian government for the east coast of Sabah through the setting up of the Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom).
He was responding to a question on a US travel advisory warning its people about travelling to the east coast of Sabah.
"Our government has the duty to talk to our citizens about safety based on the situation on the ground. In terms of the security situation, that would be re-evaluated and depend on further development.
"We did have discussions with government officials, with the chief minister, about the security and we do recognise Sabah has taken steps to improve the situation where the number of kidnappings for ransom have gone down."
Meanwhile, as for the new change of the Malaysian government, McFeeters assured that the US embassy would continue to work on security cooperation, people-to-people exchanges, and joint economic prosperity based on shared values particularly on human rights and freedom of expression and the media.
The Sabah trip was McFeeters' second virtual visit outside the Klang Valley after Penang since his arrival in Kuala Lumpur in February this year.
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