Negri Sembilan Menteri Besar Mohamad Hasan said local community leaders must take full responsibility if there is a death due to Japanese Encephalitis (JE) in the state.     

 

Hassan ( right ) said this was because some of these leaders were believed to have instigated the people to continue breeding pigs in Bukit Pelanduk, or other areas in the state, without permit.     

 

"If anything happens, including loss of human life, due to JE, that leader will be held completely responsible. We don't want the incident where people died of JE in Bukit Pelanduk to recur," he told reporters today.     

 

The state government had banned the whole area of Bukit Pelanduk in Port Dickson to be used as pig breeding area following the spread of JE outbreak which killed over hundred of people in the area in 1998.     

 

However, the state government had agreed to allow pig farm operators in Air Kuning, Gemenceh to continue their operations on conditions that they must always ensure that the number of pigs in their farms would not exceed 1,000 and the animal waste would not cause water and air pollution to surrounding areas.    

 

- Bernama