Datuk Wee Hong Seng (fourth right) holding a ‘Do Not Feed the Pigeon’ notice which was later erected at Jalan Khoo Hun Yeang/Jalan Gartak.

KUCHING: Five “Do Not Feed The Pigeon” notice boards were put up at three different locations along Jalan Khoo Hun Yeang/ Jalan Gartak, Gambier Street and India Muslim Mosque area here yesterday by the Kuching North City Commission (DBKU).

DBKU commissioner Datuk Wee Hong Seng said DBKU was putting up the notices to discourage the public from feeding the pigeons.

“We have received a lot of complaints from the shop owners and operators here about the pigeons.

“As we all know, pigeon droppings can cause diseases. The food for the pigeons can also attract rats. Besides, we have the food outlets nearby. We want to keep Kuching City clean and safe,” he explained to reporters when visiting a “Do Not Feed the Pigeons” area at Jalan Khoo Hun Yeang here.

Wee added: “We are not trying to kill the pigeons. We just want to discourage the public from feeding them so that eventually the birds will migrate to other areas.

“The city hall must be people-centric. When there are issues threatening the livelihood of the people and their safety, we must try to resolve them.” 

Meanwhile, Wes Wong, a shop operator at Jalan Khoo Hun Yeang/ Jalan Gartak here,  confirmed many people were feeding the birds daily.

“I clean the pigeon droppings every day. If my shop is dirty, people will not like to visit it,” he said.

He added the area had become dirtier with the arrival of more pigeons. 

“I thank DBKU for putting up the notices in a bid to make our city cleaner,” he added.