KUCHING, Nov 30: More than 670 commercial crime cases in Sarawak involved youth and the worrying trend shows the criticality of the problems in the state.
Minister of Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said social issues among the youth in Sarawak have been an issue of growing concern over the years.
“Among the social issues affecting Sarawak youth today are in Criminal Case (Gangsterism, Sexual Misconduct, Defiant Behaviour, etc.) Narcotic Case (Drug Abuse) and Commercial Case (Scamming, Cybercrime, Fraud, etc.),” he said.
He added unemployment also contributes to youth social issues, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic which caused over 4,037 people in Sarawak to lose their jobs.
“Based on Labour Force Survey Report 2021, there are 576,000 overall unemployed person in Sarawak.
“During the third quarter of 2022, about 429,000 Sarawakians were unemployed,” he said in his winding up speech at the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) today.
Karim also noted that Sarawak government is deeply concerned about drug and substance abuse, which is becoming increasingly contagious among the youth.
“Based on the statistics from PDRM as at 3rd quarter of 2022, there were 6,665 youths involved with drug abuse.
“We need to do everything we can to empower youth to deal with drug problems holistically,”
he added.
As such, he said his Ministry, agencies and NGOs will continue with its concerted efforts in managing and mitigating social issues involving the youths.
“We must look into this and plan a proper future for the youth so that they would not be involved in these unhealthy activities.
“As such, more joint initiatives and strategic collaborations are needed among various parties,” he said. – TVS
