Swiftlet farming guidelines out
Published on: Friday, October 05, 2012
Kota Kinabalu: The Wildlife Department under the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment on Thursday announced a set of guidelines for swiftlet farming industry in the State.The Ministry's Permanent Secretary, Datuk Michael Emban, said the 15 guidelines would come into effect on Jan 1 next year."The guidelines were decided in a meeting attended by the State's highest policy and decision-makers recently," he explained at a press conference here, Thursday.
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Among others, the guidelines require that certain standards and levels of premise upkeep must be adhered to in areas of noise, health and pollution before swiftlet farming licences can be issued by the relevant council.Also present at the press conference were Wildlife Department Director Datuk Laurentius Ambu, Tawau Swiftlets Association Protem Chairman Datuk Kour Nam Ngum and representatives of swiftlets associations from other parts of the State.The full guidelines are: 1. The swiftlet farm houses must not be built in central cities,
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municipalities or towns, including all housing areas, places frequented by the public, schools, clinics, houses of worship, water-catchment areas or any public places.2. The building of swiftlet farm houses within the jurisdiction of the Local Authorities are subject to the land usage according to the District Plans or Local Plans.
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3. Swiftlet farm houses must not be built within 100 metres from the airport and within five kilometres from the airport landing area.4. A map of the swiftlet farm house area must be provided and enclosed with the application form. The application form can be obtained through the Wildlife Department.5. Swiftlet farming activity is only allowed on lands where its stated land use is agriculture.6. Swiftlet farmers must ensure the cleanliness of the houses, the areas surrounding the houses and scheduled waste disposal.7. Every farmer must ensure that problems that can adversely affect the public health such as foul odour, breeding of mosquitoes, flies and the cleanliness of the area surrounding the buildings are under control.8. The use of sound recordings of swiftlets must not exceed 55dB, the speakers should be pointing to the sky at an angle of 60 degrees and can only be used from 6am to 7pm.9. To obtain a permit, farmers are required to have these licences/permits:a). Trading licence from the Local Authoritiesb). For new permits, farmers must obtain Animal Husbandry Permit from the Wildlife Department. All application forms can be obtained through the District Wildlife Department Offices.c). For farmers who want to sell their birds' nests, they need to have the Animal Trader Permit from the Wildlife Department.d). For farmers who want to import/export birds' nests, they need to obtain the Permit for Bringing In and Permit for Bringing Out from the Wildlife Department.e). Permits are renewable on annual basis.10. Transfers of swiftlet chicks or eggs must have permission from the Wildlife Department.11. Swiftlet farmers must keep records of swiftlet nests' harvest or disposal.12. Swiftlet farmers must have Risk Management Plan. 13. Swiftlet farmers who fail to comply with any of these guidelines shall be liable to a fine or imprisonment or both.14. All swiftlet farmers must:a). Comply with the Good Animal Husbandry Practise (GAHP)b). Comply with conditions stipulated by any government agenciesc). Undergo scheduled health and medical check-upsStay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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