Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) plans to raise the reward for the ‘Kempen 1 Tikus 1 Ringgit’ (1 Rat 1 Ringgit Campaign) to RM3 for each rat caught in order to attract public interest to eliminate the rodents in the federal capital.

DBKL Environmental Health Department director Dr Hayati Abdullah said the move was to give better motivation to the community to play their role in the campaign aimed at destroying 50,000 rats annually in the federal capital.

“We allocate RM50,000 annually for the campaign but the allocation had never been fully utilised.

“Although efforts to catch the rats are carried out routinely by the DBKL, such activity needs the cooperation and support of the community too, and I hope this initiative will encourage more people to participate in the campaign,” she told Bernama yesterday.

Dr Hayati said that last year, DBKL recorded a collection of 10,498 rats from the public which was still far below the target of 50,000 rats set.

Earlier, Bernama reported that five public markets in Kuala Lumpur, including the Selayang Wholesale Market and the Chow Kit Market were now feared to be exposed to the risk of the deadly disease called Leptospirosis or rat urine because the traders did not maintain cleanliness.

The other three public markets involved were the Pudu Market, Sentul Market and Keramat Market.

- Bernama