00:00 These rats are trying to gnaw their way out of the metal traps.
00:04 But there will be no mercy as the critters will soon meet their end, chloroformed and then incinerated.
00:09 That's all in a day's work for Helmy Mohamad Zinn,
00:12 who has been with Kuala Lumpur City Hall's Vector and Pest Control Unit for the past 25 years.
00:18 The team of eight was conducting a night operation at the Pudu wet market.
00:22 Eight single traps were set out, and within the hour, four rats were caught.
00:27 Not all of the rats were caught.
00:32 The rats I know were caught in Pudu, Cokit, Keramat, Petaling Serip.
00:40 The others were caught in Kurang.
00:42 We also had rats in Kurang, which were caught in the rat poison.
00:47 The team has also installed an urban rat trapping device at the wet market.
00:51 We call it the Urban Rat Trapping Device, URTD.
00:56 This is a project by the Kuala Lumpur City Hall's Environmental Health Department.
01:01 Our tribe's name is Sehat 21.
01:03 This is our innovation.
01:05 We tried to set up this device in its natural state.
01:11 We will install this device in the ground and build a hole,
01:19 like the original path for it to walk on every day.
01:25 It will enter the hole and fall into our trap.
01:31 We will clear our trap twice or once a week.
01:36 The URTD has won several awards at the Federal Territory Civil Service Sector's
01:42 Creative and Innovative Group,
01:44 the Innovative and Creative Circle Convention in 2023,
01:48 and the Malaysia Productivity Corporation's Team Excellence Convention.
01:52 Nevertheless, the device is unable to completely eradicate the rats.
01:56 At the very best, their numbers can only be reduced.
02:00 We can reduce the number of rats.
02:06 The agreement says that the number of rats has been reduced.
02:11 According to DBKL Health and Environment Department Director Dr Umi Ahmad,
02:16 the Pudu Wet Market is a hot spot for rats,
02:19 as there is ample food source.
02:22 She says it is also an old building with multiple cracks and holes in its structure,
02:27 where rats can tunnel, take shelter and multiply.
02:30 The fault also lies in the way the waste at these places are being managed.
02:34 So to eradicate the rat problem, Dr Umi says public attitudes must change.
02:40 Rubbish must be properly tied up in bags,
02:42 so there is no chance of them dropping around the bins or rubbish area.
02:46 .
02:47 .
02:48 .
02:50 .
02:51 .
02:52 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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