Transparency for proposed swiftlet bill, please!
Transparency for proposed swiftlet bill, please!
FMT LETTER: From SM Mohd Idris, via e-mail
In response to the Swiftlet Bill to be tabled next year to regulate the profitable bird’s nest industry, Sahabat Alam Malaysia urges the Veterinary Services Department (VSD) to disclose more details of the new Bill.
The proposed bill should be open to public debate and consultation. What is important is that the VSD should involve the farm owners, non-swiftlet farm owners who reside near the swiftlet farms, members of the Council comprising representatives from the Government, Maritime, customs and NGOs at the pre-Bill stage to listen to their feedback.
Once all parties involved have reached an understanding and all loopholes plugged, then only should the Bill be tabled in parliament. The drafting of the new law should be an open and transparent process before any guidelines for swiftlet breeding can be passed.
In this case it is crucial to know whether the proposed Bill will be effective in fixing the problem of illegal operators, especially those who set up swiftlet farms in shophouses. Then again many ignorant and errant breeders may not conform to good farming practices to ensure that birds are not subjected to cruelty or abuse and mishandling.
Has the VSD sufficient personnel to enforce the rules, and who will monitor the activities of bird nest collectors to ensure that harvesting is done without disturbance to the birds and their young, especially when many are operating illegally?
Owing to the many public complaints there is a strong case for the bird nest industry to be shifted out from urban areas and heritage sites for reasons best known. Heritage sites have become a housing boom for birds, through the conversion of the heritage buildings for the valued nests.
This has brought about irreparable damage as original doors, plasterwood and features are removed, and sprinklers set up to keep the house humid. This causes dampness and rot to the adjacent properties.
The increasing dense networks of a swiftlet house could create virtual disease flight paths for avian flu, threatening both local bird population and humans as well. Pools of water created for the humidity could provide prime breeding sites for mosquitoes and the spread of dengue and malaria.
health concerns are secondary as swiftlet house owners seem more concerned with the flightiness of the birds themselves. A recording of bird calls screaming at high volume with the noise level above the permissible level is another frequent complaint.
SAM strongly believes that this lucrative business is best suited to areas where the birds naturally feed, over agricultural or forest areas, or in combination with agriculture, in areas of low population.
Breeding activities in specifically zoned agricultural area would address the problem of noise and other nuisance problems caused to residents in urban areas. However care must be taken to ensure that the progressive shut down of section of farms can only take place after the breeding period.
Another issue of major concern is an urgent need for the inclusion of swiftlets into the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna (CITES) particularly when considering the bulk of edible swiftlet nests transported across international boundaries. Consumer nations will continue to import the nests irrespective of the source.
It is imperative that information on illegal trade within the region be encouraged by all means, especially to identify illegal trade routes and the movements of the individuals concerned. It is important to review the legislation for all range states and consumer countries so as to enable all countries in the region to understand and address the issue of illegal trade.
Lastly the authority for administering legislation controlling the harvest and export of edible-nest swiftlet materials should be vested in the wildlife conservation agency due to their considerable amount of knowledge and research pertaining to the management of swiftlets.
The writer is president of Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM)
In response to the Swiftlet Bill to be tabled next year to regulate the profitable bird’s nest industry, Sahabat Alam Malaysia urges the Veterinary Services Department (VSD) to disclose more details of the new Bill.
The proposed bill should be open to public debate and consultation. What is important is that the VSD should involve the farm owners, non-swiftlet farm owners who reside near the swiftlet farms, members of the Council comprising representatives from the Government, Maritime, customs and NGOs at the pre-Bill stage to listen to their feedback.
Once all parties involved have reached an understanding and all loopholes plugged, then only should the Bill be tabled in parliament. The drafting of the new law should be an open and transparent process before any guidelines for swiftlet breeding can be passed.
In this case it is crucial to know whether the proposed Bill will be effective in fixing the problem of illegal operators, especially those who set up swiftlet farms in shophouses. Then again many ignorant and errant breeders may not conform to good farming practices to ensure that birds are not subjected to cruelty or abuse and mishandling.
Has the VSD sufficient personnel to enforce the rules, and who will monitor the activities of bird nest collectors to ensure that harvesting is done without disturbance to the birds and their young, especially when many are operating illegally?
Owing to the many public complaints there is a strong case for the bird nest industry to be shifted out from urban areas and heritage sites for reasons best known. Heritage sites have become a housing boom for birds, through the conversion of the heritage buildings for the valued nests.
This has brought about irreparable damage as original doors, plasterwood and features are removed, and sprinklers set up to keep the house humid. This causes dampness and rot to the adjacent properties.
The increasing dense networks of a swiftlet house could create virtual disease flight paths for avian flu, threatening both local bird population and humans as well. Pools of water created for the humidity could provide prime breeding sites for mosquitoes and the spread of dengue and malaria.
health concerns are secondary as swiftlet house owners seem more concerned with the flightiness of the birds themselves. A recording of bird calls screaming at high volume with the noise level above the permissible level is another frequent complaint.
SAM strongly believes that this lucrative business is best suited to areas where the birds naturally feed, over agricultural or forest areas, or in combination with agriculture, in areas of low population.
Breeding activities in specifically zoned agricultural area would address the problem of noise and other nuisance problems caused to residents in urban areas. However care must be taken to ensure that the progressive shut down of section of farms can only take place after the breeding period.
Another issue of major concern is an urgent need for the inclusion of swiftlets into the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna (CITES) particularly when considering the bulk of edible swiftlet nests transported across international boundaries. Consumer nations will continue to import the nests irrespective of the source.
It is imperative that information on illegal trade within the region be encouraged by all means, especially to identify illegal trade routes and the movements of the individuals concerned. It is important to review the legislation for all range states and consumer countries so as to enable all countries in the region to understand and address the issue of illegal trade.
Lastly the authority for administering legislation controlling the harvest and export of edible-nest swiftlet materials should be vested in the wildlife conservation agency due to their considerable amount of knowledge and research pertaining to the management of swiftlets.
The writer is president of Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM)
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