The Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Ministry, through the State Wildlife Department, will issue guidelines on swiftlet farming to be enforced on Jan 1 next year.

However, the ministry’s permanent secretary, Michael Emban, said the swiftlet farm owners would be given 24 months to comply with the stipulated regulations.

The regulations, he said, included prohibiting swiftlet farming in urban areas, like in the cities, towns, as well as housing areas, at public places and water catchment areas.

He also said swiftlet houses would not be allowed to be built near airports.

Owners of swiftlet farms located in the stipulated prohibited areas would be given 24 months from Jan 1, 2013, to shift their operations elsewhere, he told a media conference at his office in Kota Kinabalu today.

Emban said they were also required to keep the swiftlet houses and surrounding areas clean.

He said swiftlet farmers were also required to obtain the necessary documents, like permits from the local authorities and the Wildlife Department to carry out their operation, as well as to import and export the bird’s nests.

Meanwhile, Tawau Swiftlet Farmers Association chairperson Kour Nam Ngum said there were about 4,000 swiftlet houses in Sabah, involving investments of almost RM500 million.

- Bernama