BYE BYE RATS!

MPSJ becomes Pied Piper to take the bull by its horns to eradicate the rodent problem in the municipality

SAY goodbye to rats. It’s now time to take the bull by the horns and rid the municipality of the rodent problem.
The Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ) is taking the growing rodent problem seriously and is not leaving any stone unturned in tackling this menace.
MPSJ will play the role of “Pied Piper”, calling on all food operators to work hand-in-hand to capture rats around their outlets as well as to ensure their premises are clean.
MPSJ councilor Theresa Ratnam Thong said although the rat population in the municipality had not reached an epidemic level, the council was concerned with the ever increasing numbers.
“The indiscriminate disposal of waste is one of the main causes. Much of the garbage especially eateries tend to be left exposed and this attracts the rodents. The illegal wash pipe outlets that run down the drains meant for rain water is another contributory cause,” she said in an exclusive interview with SJ Echo.
A random check was done at the back lanes of the SS15 commercial area with MPSJ health department. Rats could be seen scampering around, between bins, on the road and in the drains.
Asked if the rodent problem was due to the cleanliness of food outlets and the lack of proper waste disposal, Theresa said the “tidak apa” attitude of people generally and the “not my place, so don’t bother” attitude had contributed to the problem.
She said the council was concerned with the level of cleanliness of some of the eateries and the fact that proper disposal bins had yet to be in place.
“MPSJ has sent letters to all operators of commercial activities to obtain proper disposal bins as per MPSJ’s guidelines. This will be fully enforced from this month.”
“The council has identified some of the rodent hot spots and has started placing bait with rat poison to exterminate them,” she said, adding that one of the problematic areas was at the SS13 flats.
She said MPSJ will also be starting its “Operasi Pemantauan Restoran” to ensure that cleanliness is observed.
On whether any monetary reward was being considered for every rat caught, Theresa said it was being discussed but no decision had yet been made on it.
“The public should boycott outlets which are dirty and where rats can be seen running around. This will start the ball rolling. The public should also provide feedback to MPSJ on such eateries for its onward action,” she added.
Should MPSJ seal outlets which are found to be the source of breeding rats?
Theresa gave the assurance that the council would act within its power and legal jurisdiction to combat the breeding of rats.
Besides disposal bins being made mandatory, Theresa has also requested that MPSJ mobilize Alam Flora to collect garbage or waste even on Saturdays and Sundays especially in areas where there are eating outlets.
“SS13 seems to be the most affected by the invasion of rats, which are sometimes as large as kittens.”
“Rats have also been spotted in the SS14 and SS15 commercial areas as well as the SS19 stall area,” she said.
Theresa said the campaign would go on until the council observed a significant reduction in the rat population.
In concluding, she said there had been no cases of rat-borne diseases affecting people in Subang Jaya.
“Plague is unheard of these days. We hope that we will not see this disease reappear especially since we are now considered to be a progressive society.
What do you do as a consumer? Together, only together can we influence an attitude change. The next time you eat out and you see rats scampering around the restaurant, walk out and report it to the council. Make it very clear to the food operators that you will not tolerate such indifference.
If you take this lightly, who knows? The next time you have a meal, you might find it contains more than what you paid for. Go figure out what might be the “extra” in there!