More than 3,000 villagers in Batu Gajah were forced to live in an unpleasant environment caused by flies infestation from a nearby chicken farm.
The farm which houses around 20 pens of chicken livestock is not more than a kilometre away from the Kampung Kinta Valley housing area along Jalan Tanjung Tualang, which also negatively affects two other housing projects, Rancangan Perumahan Tersusun (Planned Housing Programme) (RPT) Batu 6 and Kampung Chenderong.
A resident of Kampung Kinta Valley, P. Vignaswaran, 33, said that the flies caused his 2-year-old son, V. Herisshwaran, to suffer pain in his ears.
“He cried loudly one night last week and I realised he was in a state of enduring pain,” he told reporters in an inspection done by the head secretariat of Perak Barisan Nasional Public Services and Complaints Bureau, Mohd Rawi Abdullah, at the location of the housing area today (October 14).
“Checkups done at a few hospitals discovered that a fly entered his ear and died in it,” Vignaswaran added.
A lorry driver, he had to bear medical costs for his son’s ear treatment for as much as RM800 and an additional RM400 for subsequent fortnightly follow-up treatments.
According to Vignaswaran, he had submitted a complaint letter to a few relevant authorities but blind eyes were turned towards the issue.
A resident of RPT Batu 6, Hussin Dahaban, 71, stated that the flies infestation had been a recurring problem for the last few years, but it escalated to its worst since six months ago.
“The flies are always raring to get into everywhere possible, like the nose, eyes and ears, not mentioning food and beverages,” he lamented. “This month itself, I had to buy two whole packets of flypapers to contain them.
“We do not object against the chicken farm but hopefully, there will be a solution to this infestation issue as soon as possible,” Hussin expressed.
Meanwhile, Mohd Rawi hopes for the state government’s intervention in solving the ever-lasting infestation issue.
“So far, gathered information pointed that the farm is operating legally and was previously visited by the health department,” he mentioned.
Rosli Mansor
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