KUBANG KERIAN, KELANTAN, 29 September 2014 - Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) expressed commitment to eradicate rats at its Kelantan Health Campus.

Since this issue made it to the news in the media about a year ago, various measures have been taken to address the problem, including getting the involvement of students and the campus community on an on-going basis. Experts from various fields and local authorities have also been roped in collaborate for the same purpose.

USM also has spent about RM100,000 over the past year to address sanitation problems, including issues related to the rats at USM Health Campus.

Menurut Pengerusi Bersama Jawatankuasa Kampus Bersih Sejahtera Kampus Kesihatan USM, Profesor Dr. Dinsuhaimi Sidek, isu ini terus ditangani sebaik mungkin secara berterusan dan sudah banyak langkah-langkah yang diambil untuk mengatasinya.

According to the Joint Committee Chairman of the Kampus Bersih Sejahtera USM Health Campus, Professor Dr. Dinsuhaimi Sidek, these issues will continue to be addressed and many steps have been taken to overcome them.

Dinsuhaimi Sidek, who is the Deputy Dean (Student Affairs and Networking) School of Medical Sciences also said that these issues need to be addressed together by all parties including the students.

He was commenting on an English language newspaper report today that students complained about the alleged problem of rats roaming the cafeteria of a hostel here.

The report said that there were cases of food poisoning caused by rats but is also untrue because, basing on a review of the USM Hospital and the nearby health centres, there has been no report of rat-related food poisoning involving USM students within the last six months.

“It is not proper to make such allegations as checked by the hostel residents’ council also did not show such records and for individual cases, they should also be scrutinised for other factors as the cause,” said Dinsuhaimi.

Reporters were invited to visit the USM Health Campus to check its cleanliness, particularly in the hostel in question and were briefed on the efforts and actions that have been taken so far to address the problem.

“We expect students to cooperate in monitoring and inform the university authorities immediately if problems still exist and that they also need to maintain a clean hostel environment by not disposing rubbish everywhere, cooperate by participating in gotong royong to clean the area around their hostel,” said Dinsuhaimi.

A gotong royong that was last held to clean up the vicinity around the hostel was on last 25 September.

Various parties in USM Health Campus have taken concerted steps to tackle these issues, such as meeting regularly with the cafeteria and food premises management to discuss on matters pertaining to their premises and conducted gotong royong to clean the cafeteria from time to time.

USM also closed up holes around the drains from which rats can access into the cafeteria, setting up rat traps in strategic areas around the cafeteria and campus where animal faecal stains can often be found as well as placing rat poison in those places.

“We are also involving other relevant parties, including government agencies and educational institutions located around campus to jointly address these problems in an integrated manner because this issue can only be solved with the cooperation of all parties concerned,” added Dinsuhaimi.

In the middle of this year, the newspaper also reported about this case based on students’ complaint through social media, including a related video upload.

USM has already taken the necessary steps, including conducting monitoring activity in the cafeteria and having on-going discussions with operators to curb these problems besides working with other stakeholders around the campus.

Also present at the press conference were Desasiswa Nurani resident officer, Hj. Yusoff Abdullah; Principal Assistant Registrar (Student Affairs and Development) who is also the Desasiswa Murni acting resident officer, Hafiz Assad Zakaria; USM Development Department Deputy Director, Norazman Mahmood; several officers and student representatives.

Translation: Yong Check Yoon/Text: Mohamad bin Abdullah