Singapore - Singapore's famously fastidious rulers will use infra-red and closed-circuit cameras in a new campaign to eliminate the city-state's estimated 13 000 rats, local media reported on Wednesday.
Continuing the no-nonsense approach that has helped lift the Asian nation from third-world status to first in one generation, all members of the community have also been urged to help eradicate the rodents.
Sewer rats that are up to 30cm long, 23cm roof rats and 15cm house mice are the prime targets of the eight-month campaign that will begin next week.
With precision that may be surprising in other Asian nations but is commonplace in Singapore, the National Environment Agency says there are 8 631 rat holes across the island-state housing about 12 950 rats.
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They will be hunted down using high-tech methods such as closed-circuit and infra-red cameras, and then be trapped or poisoned, the Straits Times reported.
"Has Singapore been attacked by rats? The answer is no," the daily quoted National Enviromnent Agency chief executive Lam Joon Khoi as saying.
"But instead of waiting for the problem to become too big to manage, we are now taking the initiative to bring the number down."
The agency has also called on food stall owners, restaurant owners and community leaders to ensure people do not leave food out in the open.
Food stall operators who do not comply with hygeine standards face a fine of 150 Singapore dollars (about R580).
Singapore is one of the cleanest nations in Asia, a legacy of the hard-line approach to hygiene employed by the government during its 39-year rule that has led to fines for spitting and bans on chewing gum.
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