T

he city administration should not follow through with its sewer rat eradication program, in which residents would be rewarded Rp 20,000 (US$1.54) for each sewer rat they exterminated, as residents were also responsible for keeping their environment clean, a sociologist says.

University of Indonesia sociologist Imam Prasodjo said residents — young and old, rich and poor —should work together to purge the city of pests carrying diseases, including rats.

Rats, which can spread diseases through their fur, saliva, urine and droppings, are known as vectors of various diseases including rat-bite fever that can cause a rash, headache and muscle and joint pain.

With the existence of such a program, Imam said, people’s motivation to wipe out the pests would no longer be to create a clean and healthy environment, but to earn as much money as possible.

“People would compete against each other to hunt as many rats as they can. They won’t see rat eradication as a shared responsibility anymore,” he said.

“Besides, it is a moral hazard when people eradicate rats to earn money instead of creating a clean and healthy environment.”

In addition, he suggested the city administration encourage the city’s residents to work together in groups to clear their neighborhoods of pests.

The administration could provide them with tools to exterminate rats they collect.

“It would also be a good idea if the city administration provided the groups of residents with money to buy food they can eat after cleaning. It will create a spirit of mutual cooperation among residents.” he said.

Jakarta Deputy Governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat said previously that the city administration had earmarked Rp 80 million from the general bureau budget, for the rat eradication program, as rats were harmful to human health.

“There are so many rats in Jakarta. They carry diseases like pertilence,” Djarot said, adding that the administration would conduct a trial run of the program in a number of locations this year.

If the trial succeeds, the program will be implemented city-wide next year, he said. The city administration is also preparing a mechanism to implement the program.

Meanwhile, Jakarta Fisheries, Agriculture and Food Security Agency head Darjamuni said on Wednesday that the agency would implement the program soon in two districts — Cakung in East Jakarta and Johar Baru in Central Jakarta — as it had received several reports of rat infestations in those areas.

Darjamuni plans to implement the program in all districts.

He explained that the agency’s officers would collect rats captured by residents in specially designed boxes and they would then be injected with poison.

“The dead rats will be put into incinerators to be burned. Their ashes will be utilized as fertilizer,” he told reporters on Wednesday as quoted by kompas.com. (vny)