Pakistan parliament fights rats big enough to scare cats
Pakistan’s parliament has a problem - and it is nothing to do with the politicians.
No, the problem besieging the building - terrifying new starters and turning its offices into overnight “marathon” tracks - is rats. Big ones.
The scale of the problem came to light after an official committee asked to see the records of meetings from 2008. When the records were collected, it was found most had been badly gnawed by rats.
“The rats on this floor are so huge that even cats might be afraid of them,” National Assembly spokesman Zafar Sultan admitted to the BBC.
The infestation is now so widespread that an annual budget of 1.2m rupees ($4,300; £3,300) has been dedicated to making Pakistan’s halls of power rat-free.
