Vimita Mohandas Channel NewsAsia 13 Jan 12;
SINGAPORE: The public can now channel all complaints on bird nuisance - whether it's crows, pigeons or mynahs - to the National Environment Agency or the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore.
The Ministry of National Development (MND) cleared the air in a Facebook posting on Friday.
This, after MediaCorp reported last month that it was tough pinning down the relevant authorities in charge of mynahs.
A coffeeshop in Bishan, which saw mynahs flocking to its premises, had complained to the two agencies but was told that they do not handle mynahs.
NEA takes care of crows, while AVA handles pigeons.
Both agencies now said they will look at improving the current system to provide a more coordinated response to deal with the mynah problem.
MND has also urged the public not to feed birds in public.
MND said NEA and AVA will undertake a closer study of the mynah problem in Singapore to identify better ways to manage the population. It added that with closer proximity between urban and nature areas, more of such problems can be expected.
It added that NEA and Town Councils have been culling crows and pigeons to control their population and stepped up cleaning in public areas where large numbers of birds gather.
AVA and NEA have also been taking enforcement action against people who feed birds.
- CNA/cc
Orchard Road hit by bird nuisance
Ng Puay Leng Channel NewsAsia 16 Jan 12;
SINGAPORE: Since Channel NewsAsia's report last month about mynahs being a public nuisance, viewers have given feedback that Orchard Road is plagued by this problem as well.
Mynahs residing in trees along Orchard Road can be heard for more than an hour after the sun sets.
Orchard Road merchants said there could be a few thousand mynahs.
The birds' droppings have left unsightly stains on pedestrian walkways.
The Orchard Road Business Association (ORBA) said it's exploring ways to chase the mynahs away.
This included borrowing an eagle from the Singapore Wildlife Reserve but this did not work out due to the large number of mynahs.
They have also approached various government agencies for help, but so far no concrete solution has been provided.
The National Environment Agency said that with the close proximity between urban and natural areas, there will be such minor bird nuisances.
In a written reply to a question in parliament on Monday whether there will be a single agency to handle bird-related problems, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan said that the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) would coordinate the work of all agencies involved whenever problems caused by birds arise.
- CNA/ck
