Action on swiftlet farms

Tuesday November 30, 2010
By ANDY CHUA
andychua@thestar.com.my


THE Sibu Municipal Council (SMC) has issued a warning to shophouse and residential property owners that it will take action against those who operate swiftlet farms in their property.

Chairman Datuk Tiong Thai King said at SMC’s full council meeting yesterday that as swiftlet farming was a lucrative business, those involved in the business should not violate the law by operating such farms in their premises.


Tiong: SMC will take action on illegal swiftlet farming.
The council, he said, had received many complaints about swiftlet farming causing serious environmental issues, in particular noise and bird droppings.

“The council will take action on the complaints under the Public Health Ordinance even though the licensing of the farms is under the jurisdiction of the Forest Department,” said Tiong.

In another development, Tiong said during a few cleaning campaigns organised by non-government organisations (NGOs), he had personally discovered that littering and illegal dumping of waste were still rampant especially in residential areas.

He said while the council had sweepers to clean up the town centre, commercial centres and protocol roads daily, it hoped that residents would also take care of their own surroundings, in particular road verges in their neighbourhood where people tend to litter.

“If everyone starts to pick up litter from the road verges in front of their houses, it will definitely make a lot of difference to the cleanliness of their neighbourhood,” he said.

Tiong also posed a challenge to NGOs to extend their cleaning campaigns beyond merely picking up litter and wastes by including education. He suggested that they distributed educational leaflets and give talks to residents on the importance to have a clean environment.

He said this was particularly important in view of the increasing cases of dengue in the town this year.