Melaka poultry farm shut over odour and fly complaints
JASIN: A poultry farm in Simpang Bekoh here has been ordered to shut down immediately following ongoing complaints over foul odours and fly infestations that have caused discomfort to residents.
State Rural Development, Agriculture and Food Security Committee chairman Datuk Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh said the company failed to resolve the issues despite being repeatedly fined.
'The revocation of the operating licence falls under the authority of the Melaka Department of Veterinary Services director, and the premises will only be allowed to resume operations once the company meets five stipulated conditions...including hygiene and the satisfaction of the residents.
'...as long as the company fails to take corrective measures and comply with the conditions, the factory will not be allowed to operate,' he told reporters at Taman Kesang Damai here.
Earlier, he launched the Wakil Rakyat Untuk Rakyat (WRUR) programme under the Bemban state constituency, which was also attended by the State Housing, Local Government, Irrigation, Climate Change, and Disaster Management Committee chairman, Datuk Rais Yasin.
Elaborating, Dr Muhamad Akmal said the farm closure, which has been in effect since June 18, involves the main coop housing between 70,000 and 80,000 chickens.
He said the main issue was poor management, as the company had only assigned 12 workers to handle 16 coops, resulting in inefficient waste management that led to foul odours and fly infestations.
'This (closure) action is not intended to burden the operator, but rather to safeguard the well-being of residents in the area and to ensure that all companies involved in the state's livestock sector comply with the prescribed regulations,' he said.
Meanwhile, he said the WRUR programme, which provides a platform for the public to voice their concerns directly, reflects the state government's commitment to addressing the people's issues comprehensively, in addition to strengthening governance based on the needs of the people and ensuring that no community is left behind.
'...four state constituencies have completed the WRUR programme, and we are (conducting the programme) in the fifth, where we will be stationed here for two weeks with the full involvement of state government machinery, including departments, agencies, and local authorities,' he added.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
9 hours ago
- The Sun
Melaka poultry farm shut over odour and fly complaints
JASIN: A poultry farm in Simpang Bekoh here has been ordered to shut down immediately following ongoing complaints over foul odours and fly infestations that have caused discomfort to residents. State Rural Development, Agriculture and Food Security Committee chairman Datuk Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh said the company failed to resolve the issues despite being repeatedly fined. 'The revocation of the operating licence falls under the authority of the Melaka Department of Veterinary Services director, and the premises will only be allowed to resume operations once the company meets five stipulated hygiene and the satisfaction of the residents. '...as long as the company fails to take corrective measures and comply with the conditions, the factory will not be allowed to operate,' he told reporters at Taman Kesang Damai here. Earlier, he launched the Wakil Rakyat Untuk Rakyat (WRUR) programme under the Bemban state constituency, which was also attended by the State Housing, Local Government, Irrigation, Climate Change, and Disaster Management Committee chairman, Datuk Rais Yasin. Elaborating, Dr Muhamad Akmal said the farm closure, which has been in effect since June 18, involves the main coop housing between 70,000 and 80,000 chickens. He said the main issue was poor management, as the company had only assigned 12 workers to handle 16 coops, resulting in inefficient waste management that led to foul odours and fly infestations. 'This (closure) action is not intended to burden the operator, but rather to safeguard the well-being of residents in the area and to ensure that all companies involved in the state's livestock sector comply with the prescribed regulations,' he said. Meanwhile, he said the WRUR programme, which provides a platform for the public to voice their concerns directly, reflects the state government's commitment to addressing the people's issues comprehensively, in addition to strengthening governance based on the needs of the people and ensuring that no community is left behind. '...four state constituencies have completed the WRUR programme, and we are (conducting the programme) in the fifth, where we will be stationed here for two weeks with the full involvement of state government machinery, including departments, agencies, and local authorities,' he added.
Malay Mail
07-06-2025
- Malay Mail
Missing merluza: Chile's battle to save its favourite catch
CHILE, June 8 — Before setting sail for the South Pacific, Chilean fisherman Rodrigo Gallardo blesses himself to invoke heavenly protection and luck in his pursuit of an increasingly elusive catch: hake. Strong winds make for a choppy seven-nautical-mile (13 kilometer) voyage from the port of Valparaiso to deep waters that decades ago were teeming with Chile's favorite fish. But several hours later, when Gallardo reels in a longline studded with sardines (these small fry are used as bait) just a single hake has bitten. 'In the past, the hold was completely full,' the 46-year-old lamented. The South Pacific hake, or merluccius gayi, provides a living for some 4,000 small-scale fishermen in Chile, a country with over 6,000 kilometers of coastline, which has a voracious appetite for 'merluza'. But the attraction for cod's more affordable cousin is proving fatal. Along central Chile's traditional fishing heartland, more and more boats are returning to port with empty holds as overfishing and climate change decimate hake stocks. In the past two decades, Chile's hake population has declined by 70 per cent according to the Fisheries Development Institute (IFOP). Gallardo, 46, blames years of regulations that benefitted commercial 'bottom' trawlers, which use drag nets to scoop up huge amounts of deep-water fish, like hake, depleting ocean stocks. Commercial fisheries, for their part, blame illegal fishing by small-scale fishermen like Gallardo. Regulations fall short Chile has been fighting a high stakes battle against overfishing for years. With several species in severe decline by the early 2010s, from hake to jack mackerel and jumbo squid, the government introduced annual biomass (weight) quotas designed to determine sustainable fishing levels. Chile also designated over 40 per cent of its waters as Marine Protected Areas, where fishing is restricted, and signed up to the United Nations High Seas Treaty on protecting marine biodiversity. A decade on, the populations of some species, such as sardines, cuttlefish and horse mackerel — Chile's biggest fish export — have begun to recover. The hake numbers, however, continue to make for grim reading. An IFOP study from 2024 showed a 17 per cent drop in the biomass of hake stocks compared to the previous year. Drop in the ocean Rodrigo Catalan, conservation director of the Chilean chapter of the World Wildlife Fund, blames a mix of 'illegal fishing, over-exploitation and climate change' for making hake increasingly scarce. In 2023, authorities seized 58 tons of illegal hake, the second-largest seizure by species after anchovies. The authorities suspect it's just a drop in the ocean. Because hake is usually caught close to shore, it's easy to quickly reel it in without being noticed. Much of the illegal catch winds up for sale in small quantities on markets, which also makes it difficult to detect, according to the National Fisheries Service. Experts say climate change is also wreaking havoc with fish stocks. Alicia Gallardo, a researcher at the University of Chile, said that rising sea temperatures was causing hake to migrate further south in search of colder currents, and was also affecting reproduction rates. Too many nets, too few fish Having to share an ever-shrinking catch — the annual quota for hake now stands at 35,000 tons, down from 118,000 in 2001 — has caused tempers in Chile to flare. 'There aren't enough fish for so many fishermen,' Liesbeth van der Meer, director of the ocean conservation NGO Oceana remarked. Small-scale fishermen in Valparaiso clashed with police during three days of protests in March over delays in adopting a bill that boosted their share of the catch quota for hake, among other species. Chile's biggest commercial fishery PacificBlu threatened to close shop, with the loss of 3,200 jobs, if its share was cut but later revoked the threat. The bill, which increases the quota for artisanal fishing from 40 per cent to 45 per cent, was finally adopted by the Senate this week. — AFP
Free Malaysia Today
07-06-2025
- Free Malaysia Today
Ailing Baltic Sea in need of urgent attention
Of the world's coastal seas, the Baltic Sea is warming the fastest. (EPA Images pic) HELSINKI : Decades of pollution and climate change have caused fish to disappear from the Baltic Sea at an alarming rate, with the EU on Thursday vowing to make the sea an 'urgent priority'. Unveiling its road map to protect Europe's seas, the European Ocean Pact, Brussels announced a summit on the state of the Baltic Sea in late September. The semi-enclosed sea is surrounded by industrial and agricultural nations Germany, Poland, Russia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and the three Baltic states. Connected to the Atlantic only by the narrow waters of the Danish straits, the Baltic is known for its shallow, low-salinity waters, which are highly sensitive to the climate and environmental changes that have accumulated over the years. 'Today, the once massive Baltic cod stocks have collapsed, herring stocks in several sub-basins are balancing on critical levels, sprat recruitment is at a record low and wild salmon stocks are in decline,' Swedish European MP Isabella Lovin, rapporteur for the EU committee of fishing, warned in a report, calling the situation 'critical'. The Baltic Sea is home to some of the world's largest dead marine zones, mainly due to excess nutrient runoff into the sea from human activities on land – a challenge the sea has long grappled with. The runoff has primarily been phosphorus and nitrogen from waste water and fertilisers used in agriculture, as well as other activities such as forestry. It causes vast algae blooms in summer, a process known as eutrophication that removes oxygen from the water, leaving behind dead seabeds and marine habitats and threatening species living in the Baltic. Today, agriculture is the biggest source of nutrient pollution. Marine biodiversity in the relatively small sea has also deteriorated due to pollution from hazardous substances, land use, extraction of resources and climate change, according to the Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission (HELCOM). 'The state of the Baltic Sea is not good,' Maria Laamanen, a senior advisor at the Finnish environment ministry, told AFP. Climate change poses 'a massive additional challenge' for the marine environment, she said. Of the world's coastal seas, the Baltic Sea is warming the fastest. A 2024 study said sea surface and sea floor temperatures have increased by 1.8°C and 1.3°C in the Finnish archipelago in the northern Baltic Sea, in the period from 1927 to 2020. The consequences of rising temperatures already affect species, while increased rainfall has led to more runoff from land to sea. Better waste water treatment and gypsum treatment of agricultural soil, as well as an expansion of protected marine areas in Finland, have had a positive effect on the maritime environment, according to Laamanen, who said environmental engagement had grown in recent years. 'The situation would be much worse without the measures already implemented,' she said. In her report, Lovin called for an ambitious reform of fisheries, with stronger attention paid to environmental and climate change impacts. The report also questioned whether the Baltic could continue to sustain industrial-scale trawling, and suggested giving 'priority access to low-impact fisheries and fishing for human consumption'. The head of the Finnish fishermen's association (SAKL) Kim Jordas said eutrophication was to blame for the declining fish stocks in the Baltic Sea, not overfishing. 'Looking at cod for example, it is entirely due to the state of the Baltic Sea and the poor oxygen situation,' Jordas told AFP. In Finland, the number of commercial fishermen has been declining, with a total of around 400 active today.
