Prize contest held to combat rats

BENGKULU: An official with Lebong regency, Bengkulu province, disclosed on Monday that the Lebong regency administration had been running a competition for the last two months ago offering local residents Rp 500 (US$0.05) for each rat they killed.

Dalhadi Umar, the regent of Lebong, said that the prize competition had been organized after rats had damaged 700 out of 1,500 hectares of rice fields in the regency. So far, local people had killed some 15,000 rats, said the regent. -- Antara