This month the Forestry Department of Sarawak is taking action in Mukah against the bird's nest ranchers. The DAP condemns the Forestry Department's enforcement team for resorting to the most cruel methods.

All the bird's nests were taken and the young hatchlings left to die. The photos taken by the ranchers tell the sad tale of a massive number of birds and hatchlings dead. Tens of thousands more birds will perish over the next week.

It is understood that the Forestry Department only needs evidence of the birds’ nest ranching in order to prosecute the ranchers in court. Since that is the case, the enforcement team needs only to take a few pieces of the nest and take photos or even video-tape the ranches.

There is no need to take all the nests and eggs, kill all the hatchlings and the birds who could not escape. The DAP condemns the state government for taking a blind stand to such cruelty.

The DAP also understands the people's concern on whether bird’s nest ranching will cause avian flu and increase the incidence of hand, foot and mouth disease. But if the Sarawak government had deemed bird nest ranching an offence under the Wildlife Protection Ordinance 1998, they should not have waited for years to take action.

Such inaction would mean that the state government had condoned bird's nest ranching all these years.

Judging by proven facts, bird’s nest ranching is a lucrative industry. The world is entering into a recession. Bbird's nest ranching is the industry which will bring income to many ranchers.

It will provide a cushion to the pending recession which Sarawak will have no means of escaping.

The state government has no concrete evidence that bird's nest ranching in the town centre is hazardous or will become hazardous. It acts merely because there were some complaints. The state government is resorting to surmise and conjecture as to the ill-effects of the industry.

Nothing should be left to surmise or conjecture, especially if it concerns health and the environment. The health of the people remains paramount. To solve the present predicament, including that faced by the Mukah ranchers, we propose some short-term measures as follows:

1. The government should immediately set up a task force to study the effects of bird's nest ranching in town centres. An Environment Impact Assessment Report should be compiled. The report should be made public within a month.

2. The Forestry Department and the local government should make sure that pending the task force's report, no more bird ranch is allowed to be built. An independent monitoring unit should be set up for this purpose.

3. There should be a stay of execution on existing bird's nest ranches in shophouses pending the complete study.

4. All existing bird's nest houses should be maintained properly by the ranchers to ensure hygiene.

There ought to be long-term measures to enable this industry to thrive. The people should be allowed to tap this industry bearing in mind the huge market for bird's nests in China, Korea and Japan and elsewhere.

The DAP also proposes the following long-term solutions:

1. Provided that bird's nest ranching poses no threat to health and the environment, the industry should be legalised.

2. A bird-nest ranching zone should be demarcated and gazetted in the suburban and country areas in all divisions. The zone must be a defined distance from residential areas, in the same manner as a shipbuilding zone or industrial zone is gazetted.

3. The existing bird's nest ranches should be gradually moved to the demarcated bird's nest ranching zone, say, within two years, if there is no imminent threat posed by the ranching to health and the environment.

4. The state government, by its agencies, should issue proper guidelines which must be followed by the ranchers to ensure the industry poses no hazard to public health and the environment.

The writer represents DAP Sarawak.