TODAY
Address root cause
05:55 AM Jul 30, 2009
Letter from Melissa Lim May Lin
I WRITE with regard to the plan to cull pigeons in various constituencies, including Marine Parade GRC.
Pest control companies have been hired by the Town Council to control the pigeon population in the area.
I have seen dead pigeons lying around, resulting not only in unsightly surroundings, but more importantly, a danger to the children and pets around the area.
As I understand, pigeons have gathered in the area because residents throw food either out from their windows or at street level. The pigeons would not have otherwise congregated and hence become pests.
I find it appalling that instead of addressing the root cause - by conducting ample investigations into finding who these errant residents are and issuing them a warning or punishing them for littering - the Town Council is utilising collective funds to hire pest control companies to cull the pigeons.
I would imagine that a proper investigation into the perpetrators of littering would be more cost-efficient than addressing the symptoms of the problem. The Town Council should take measures to deal with the littering problem, rather than add to it by culling pigeons.
I need not emphasise the inhumanity in the act of culling.
Aside from that, I hope the Town Council understands that the use of funds for such a purpose which does not address the root cause of the problem is worrying.
This is especially so because of what I term the vacuum effect, where a population of animals (pigeons in this case) are removed but because the root cause (i.e. food) remains present in the space, another population will enter - thus resulting in a never-ending cycle of culling, and no ease to the situation at hand.
Funds should be spent on addressing residents' real problems, not symptoms.
