Sabah working on legal curbs on guarana promotions, cultivation

KOTA KINABALU – The Sabah government is working on creating a law to empower authorities to crack down on individuals promoting guarana cultivation in the state, in a bid to protect the local agriculture industry, Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Jeffrey Kitingan said today.

Guarana is a plant native to South America and a common ingredient in health supplements and energy drinks. The Sabah government classifies it as illegal and a “dangerous” plant as it is a potential carrier of the South American leaf blight.

Jeffrey said the state government is aware of individuals attempting to recruit farmers in Keningau and Tambunan in Sabah’s interior region to attend “seminars” and talks on business opportunities related to guarana.

“I implore the people not to be duped by these guarana-planting schemes. There is a good chance that the people organising these guarana-related events are just collecting money from gullible people with the goal of fooling them,” he said in a statement.

“You can go and listen; it is not against the law right now. However, do not plant this guarana because it will decimate our rubber industry. We don’t know how guarana will benefit us, but we already know how it will destroy our agricultural industry, especially rubber.”

Jeffrey stressed that guarana is and will remain illegal in Sabah, though he noted that the government can only stop guarana plants from coming into the country at entry points and lacks jurisdiction to confiscate plants that managed to be brought past border checks.

Meanwhile, the state government expects to see over RM500,000 in annual revenue from its latest permanent food production park in Keningau, Jeffrey said.

The Keningau park is the 12th such project in Sabah and the state government intends to build at least one such park in every district under its Sabah Maju Jaya development blueprint, he said. – The Vibes, April 2, 2022