SADONG JAYA: Synthetic drugs have become a new and growing threat to rural youths in Sarawak, with methamphetamine, commonly known as syabu, ‘batu’ or ‘ais’, increasingly being distributed in villages.
Infrastructure and Port Development Deputy Minister, Datuk Aidel Lariwoo, said drug syndicates are now targeting remote areas and recruiting village youths to act as dealers, making rural communities the new front line of drug abuse.
“I am very concerned because these syndicates are silently infiltrating our villages and using our young people to sell synthetic drugs like syabu,” he said.
He was officiating the ‘Cegah Sebelum Parah’ anti-drug programme jointly organised by the Kota Samarahan Municipal Council (MPKS) and Kelab Belia Sejati Sadong (KBSS) at Dewan Warisan here today.
Aidel, who is also the Sadong Jaya Assemblyman, voiced his support for the Education Ministry’s move to make urine tests compulsory for secondary school students as a measure to curb drug abuse among teenagers.
He also urged for drug prevention programmes to be rolled out across all rural areas in Sarawak to promote early awareness and community-level intervention.
“I commend the Ministry of Education for taking bold and firm action to ensure our children do not fall victim to drug addiction,” he said.
“We must act before things get worse.”
