KOTA KINABALU: A palau (Bajau Laut) recalled a harrowing fishing experience in the waters off Semporna years ago when a blast at sea left his boat sinking and resulted in the loss of his arm due to a fish bombing accident.
He is one of the many victims of this ongoing practice among coastal villagers.
His story was shared in a short documentary about the ‘sea people of Sabah’ during a Blu Hope (environmental organisation) conference on plastic pollution and fish bombing in Semporna on Tuesday (Dec 10).
Another family expressed their fears not only of eviction but also of having their stilt houses burnt down.
They spoke about the sea as their home and main source of food, income, and livelihood.
Lacking citizenship and documentation, they are unable to live like other nationals, fearing enforcement operations and hesitating to seek medical attention if they fall ill, due to restrictions on movement without documentation.
Sabah Deputy Chief Minister I Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan highlighted that this issue is interconnected, with the Bajau Laut resorting to illegal fish hunting for sustenance and livelihood.
"I feel that they need to be part of society, need to eat, need education. We need solutions for them but we have to collaborate with others," he said.
"They might be minorities but they are human beings so we need to treat them like human beings. Sometimes maybe the government needs to be more open-minded," he added.
Earlier, Kitingan explained that the event hosted by Blu Hope aims to address both plastic waste collection and upcycling as alternatives to fish bombing activities for livelihood.
"As we know, communities need to feed their families and instead of bombing fish that endangers themselves and destroys our source of food security, they will now have an alternative source of income," he said.
"As the saying goes, one man’s trash is another man’s gold," he added.
Kitingan noted that this strategy will incentivise communities, such as the Bajau Laut, to become guardians of Sabah’s seas and the wider Coral Triangle.
"If we could achieve this, then I see no reason why Sabah could not become the first to empower a marginalised group of people as champions of the conservation and protection of the ocean that we all benefit from as human beings," he said.
"We can put a tick on the universal human rights box on this one," he added.
