Saturday, April 30, 2011

Perak guide on swiftlet industry soon

http://thestar.com.my
IPOH: Perak will implement its standardised guidelines for the swiftlet nest industry soon. Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir said that at present, the state’s 15 local district councils had their own set of rules for the industry.

“While some councils follow the guidelines given by the Housing and Local Government Ministry such as breeders must form associations before they are given licences, others allow the breeders to register with the Veterinary Services Department,” he said after chairing the weekly state executive council meeting here. Dr Zambry said the guidelines which were discussed during the meeting were being fine-tuned.

“Among the areas that need to be tightened are the sound pollution resulting from the swiftlets inside the buildings and the proposed locations to house the nests,” he said yesterday. On another matter, Dr Zambry said the same department had been instructed to engage poultry farmers to reduced the problem of flies. “We hope the farmers will work closely with the department,” he said.

He added that while the state supported the poultry industry, it should not cause a nuisance to its neighbours.
Dr Zambry also said that the state would revive the Pesta Laut Lumut (Lumut Beach Sports) next year.
Last held in the 1980s, the event will promote Lumut as a tourism destination and will be held in conjunction with the Royal Malay-sian Navy’s Day celebration.

Friday, April 15, 2011

CM slammed over swiftlet ban

By VANES DEVINDRAN
vanes@thestar.com.my

KUCHING: Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has been criticised for not handling the swiftlet farming issue in Penang well.Deputy Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry Minister Chua Tee Yong said Lim instead chose to push the blame to the Federal Govern-ment.

“What I need to stress is Guan Eng is a representative in the National Council for Local Government and he has the right to be heard and voice concerns to defend the people of Penang if he feels the decision made is incorrect.“As such, I hope he does not continue to mislead the people or push the blame to the Federal Government,” he said here yesterday.

Chua also requested to see the minutes of the council's meeting on how the decision to ban swiftlet farming at heritage sites in Penang and Malacca was made.He wanted to find out if Lim had agreed with the measures to be taken.“I want to know if he con- curred with the measures taken by the council.“This is because I never knew the Chief Minister of Penang to be an obedient person (leaving) the council to discuss and he just agreeing (to it),” he said.

Chua said what had been agreed in the council was a collective decision.Based on this, Chua added that it was untrue for Lim to solely say it was a directive from the Federal Government.In addition, Chua wanted to know what steps the Penang Government had taken to engage with the swiftlet operators.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Seminar on swiftlet ranching in Kuching

Seminar on swiftlet ranching in Kuching

Posted on April 7, 2011, Thursday
INNOVATIVE: Wing Seng is one of the few companies in Sarawak to have taken the innovative approach to integrate the different elements and needs of the swiftlet ranching industry into one centre.

KUCHING: Wing Seng Swiftlet’s Equipment Trading (Wing Seng) is one of the few companies in Sarawak that has completed various consultancy, renovation and services for over 50 swiftlet houses throughout the state.

The company specialises in swiftlet house design and consultation, swiftlet house renovation, swiftlet house construction and turn-key, swiftlet house routine services and maintenance. It also conducts swiftlet ranching seminars and courses, supply of specliased swiftlet ranching equipments and materials as well as bird nests processing and trading of raw/processed bird nests.

Since the year 2008, Wing Seng Swiftlet’s Equipment Trading has been invited by various government agencies to provide courses and seminar on swiftlet ranching. It will be holding a swiftlet farming course this April (9am to 5pm) at Penview Hotel here, at a course fee of RM350 per person.

The course outline includes the proven swiftlet house 3D-model, informational on how to enhance the performance of swiftlet house, video showing swiftlet house with 30kg per month bird nest harvesting, swiftlet licencing and its procedure as well as given-out of quality external and internal swiftlet sounds. For more information, contact 082-614054 or email wingseng28@yahoo.com.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

CM tells swiftlet farmers to raise issue with DPM

http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2011/4/13/north/8469129&sec=north


GEORGE TOWN: The National Council for Local Government is behind the ban on swiftlet farming in heritage areas and not the state government, said Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng. He accused critics of “having ulterior motives” and “politicising the matter” for the Sarawak election “If they have the courage to protest sincerely and are not playing political games, they should protest to Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and not direct these (protests) to the state government,” he said.

Lim claimed that swiftlet farm- ing had become a hot issue as bird’s nest collection was popular in Sarawak. “Bird house operations are big in Sarawak and we (Pakatan Rakyat) are getting attacked on this issue,” he said.

In early September last year, Muhyiddin had announced that swiftlet farming would be prohibited in the Penang and Malacca heritage enclaves, with a three- year grace period given to existing operators. Meanwhile, Nibong Tebal MP Tan Tee Beng has renewed a challenge to the state government for an open debate over bird nests farming in the George Town heritage enclave.

Tan who quit PKR last year and is now a Kita member, said he issued a similar challenged to Local Government and Traffic Management committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow, state Agriculture, Rural Development and Flood Mitigation committee chairman Law Choo Kiang and state Domestic Trade, Consumer and Religious Affairs committee chairman Abdul Malik Abul Kassim two years ago but they had kept mum.

Last week, some 50 swiftlet farm operators held banners and shouted slogans at Komtar Walk here against the ongoing move to get them out of George Town. When contacted, Chow and Abdul Malik declined to debate with Tan. Abdul Malik urged Tan to “open his mouth” at the Dewan Rakyat. Law could not be reached for comments.

Monday, April 11, 2011

MPSP no to swiftlet licence

http://thestar.com.my/metro/story

THERE are an estimated 2,000-odd illegal swiftlet nest farms in Seberang Prai, Penang. Of the number, 1,155 operators have submitted applications for licences from the Seberang Prai Municipal Council (MPSP) but none has been approved so far, said MPSP councillor Steven Sim Chee Keong.

“The licence applications to operate swiftlet nest farms in Seberang Prai have been temporarily frozen. “We are still waiting for the state government to come up with specific guidelines on swiftlet nest farming in Penang,” he said during an operation to remove speakers from three illegal swiftlet nest farms in a shophouse block on Jalan Tembikai in Bukit Mertajam yesterday.

Sim said of the 1,155 farms which applied for licences, 1,051 were located in shophouses, 67 on agricultural land and 37 in residential houses. “They must submit building plans together with their licence applications. The licence approval will depend on endorsements from the Fire and Rescue Department and the council’s technical departments as well as the suitability of the farms’ locations,” he said.

Fellow councillor Oon Neow Aun said the council had so far issued licences to three swiftlet nest farms. He said such farms were only allowed to be built on agricultural land but not near padi fields and irrigation canals as the Drainage and Irrigation Department feared that bird droppings might pollute the waterway. On the enforcement yesterday, Oon said the council had issued several notices to the three swiftlet nest farm operators since June last year to lower the volume of their speakers following public complaints but this was ignored.

He said the council permitted operators to set their music volume at below 40db (decibels) but the sound levels recorded at the farms were above 66db. Oon said the enforcement against the operators were initiated under Section 82 (5) of the Local Government Act 1976 for causing nuisance. Eleven council enforcement officers, two council special squad members, six auxiliary policemen, three council Building Department officers and five council Health Department officers took part in the hour-long operation.

Monday, April 4, 2011

Show us the Unesco letter, say swiftlet farmers

By ANDREA FILMER
andrea@thestar.com.my

GEORGE TOWN: A group of swiftlet farm owners has demanded a Unesco letter allegedly warning George Town to buck up on its enforcement of bird's nest farming in the heritage enclave to be made public.
Pengkalan Kota Barisan Nasional coordinator Loke Poh Chye, who spoke on behalf of the group, said full disclosure of the letter would be in line with the state government's CAT (Competency, Accountability and Transparency) policy. 

“The owners want to ascertain the exact reasons Unesco was troubled with bird's nest harvesting in the heritage zone. “Without knowing what Unesco is concerned about, proper guidelines cannot be suggested to solve the problem between the owners and the state,” Loke said at a press conference that was attended by some 20 bird's nest farm owners. 

On Feb 23, state exco Chow Kon Yeow said World Heritage Centre director Francesco Bandarin had sent a letter to Ali Abdul Ghani, Malaysia's permanent delegate to Unesco in Paris, outlining its concerns on the conversion of heritage buildings into swiftlet breeding premises. It had been reported that the centre had been made aware of the matter following a series of reports it had received. 

The National Council for Local Government had also announced on Sept 2 that new swiftlet nest farms would not be allowed in the George Town and Malacca heritage sites while existing ones would have to clear out in three years.