LIMBANG: The claim of hidden treasures in Lawas is news to Second Minister of Resource Planning and Environment Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hassan.
In commenting on the tragedy in Mengkalap last Monday where two treasure hunters were killed and three others hospitalised after they acted on a dream of hidden treasures in the area, Awang Tengah cautioned the people to be more discerning over such claims or dreams.
Awang Tengah urged members of the public to seek verification from their elders if they have unusual dreams and conduct due diligence before embarking on any treasure hunts to avoid untoward incidents.
“Take care and do not be easily influenced or misled by such stories which could even lead to loss of lives,” he said when interviewed at the end of his two-day Chinese New Year visit at the open house of Temengong Ang Kheng Su here yesterday. “It should not have happened,” he said when asked to comment on the incident.
The minister further said hard work is the key to wealth and success and not dreams.
Awang Tengah was accompanied by his wife Datuk Dayang Morliah Awang Daud, Bukit Kota assemblyman Dr Abdul Rahman Ismail, his Batu Danau counterpart Paulus Palu Gumbang, Limbang Resident Maria Hasman, Lawas District Officer Hussaini Hakim and Limbang mayor Sufian Mohat.
In the tragedy, carbon monoxide poisoning from a water pump is believed to have killed the two treasure hunters and hospitalised the three others from Kampung Lintang in Lawas.
They have dug a tunnel about 16-metre deep in search of the hidden treasures.
The Fire and Rescue Department had to be mobilised in a search and rescue operation, and they had to source the help of the Hazmat team from Limbang.
Meanwhile, on DAP’s campaign for a fairer electricity policy by collecting 100,000 signatures, Awang Tengah who is also Minister of Public Utilities said it was driven by a political and populist propaganda and not based on reality in Sarawak’s context.
“Despite the geographical challenges and constraints, the government has done much to provide electricity to the widely scattered population in Sarawak,” he noted.
Awang Tengah said power tariff in the state was among the lowest in the region.
“We even absorbed the cost through subsidies for consumers who consumed less that RM20 of power and this has benefitted thousands of our citizens,” he pointed out.
Awang Tengah hoped that Sarawakians would be realistic and take into account the reality on the ground.