HEALTH checks are being carried out on tourists by the Kelantan Health Department at three entry points at the border to prevent the spread of influenza A (H1N1), said state Women and Family Development and Health Committee chairman Wan Ubaidah Omar.

Replying to Datuk Abdul Aziz Derashid (BN-Kuala Balah), Wan Ubaidah said the checks were made at the Rantau Panjang, Pengkalan Kubur and Bukit Bunga Customs, Immigration and Quarantine complexes.

"All checks are being done manually as the department has not received an electronic scanner from the Health Ministry yet."

On a supplementary question by Adhan Kecik (BN-Bukit Bunga) on whether tourist arrivals had been affected by the outbreak, Wan Ubaidah said she did not have the figures.

State Local Government, Tourism and Culture committee chairman Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan said the Kuala Krai Zoo had been converted into a bird park as a bigger zoo was being built in Machang.
Takiyuddin, who was replying to Abdul Latiff Abdul Rahman (Pas-Mengkebang), said the project was initiated by Datuk Sazmi Miah who was then Machang MP and parliamentary secretary to the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry.

"We will allocate a piece of land in Bukit Bakar for the project."

Takiyuddin said the state was also identifying other sites to be turned into tourist attractions, one of which is the Lata Renyok waterfall in Jeli.

He said Lata Renyok had rock formation, confirmed by geologists to be more than a million years old.

"It has the potential to become a major attraction as there were many tourists interested in nature."