Act to keep rats in check, public urged

Rodents in hiding: Pest control efforts have been conducted in alleys such as this one in Selayang .

PETALING JAYA: Pest control is among the measures taken by local councils to keep the rat population in check.

Kuala Lumpur City Hall acting health director Datin Dr Noor Akma Shabudin said the city council’s pest control unit regularly carried out rat catching efforts.

She said the city council received 98 complaints related to rats and caught 24,627 rats between January and June this year.

The council would also set up a booth on leptospirosis when it organised health exhibitions to educate the public.

She added that there were measures the public could take to prevent leptospirosis, such as making it a habit to clean the top surface of a soda can properly before drinking at restaurants or hawker stalls.

“You don’t know where they store the tin cans. There could be rats in the store where they are kept,” she said.

She added that the public should stay away from stagnant water when visiting waterfalls as it may contain rat urine.

“Observe the environment before you dip into the water,” she cautioned.

Selayang Municipal Council environment director Hairudin Daud said the council also carried out pest control drives to control the rat population but other measures were the responsibility of the district health office.

Meanwhile, MBPJ Solid Waste and Public Cleanliness department director Lee Lih Shyan said the lack of civic consciousness among the public remained a barrier in the council’s efforts to maintain the cleanliness of public areas.

“There is still room for improvement.

“It’s quite a challenge getting people to upkeep the cleanliness in public areas, and in front of their house and places they patronise,” he said.

Lee said there were many things that people could do to keep their surroundings clean such as having a proper place for rubbish and not hanging rubbish in plastic bags or placing the bags on the floor.

“This will expose the waste to external factors and the bags could break, rain could get in and wet waste could overflow,” he said.

Garbage has to be stored properly as waste collection is only done three times a week, he added.