Jakarta to pay residents to catch rats

In a bid to curb disease in Jakarta, residents will be paid $2 for every rat they catch and hand over to authorities.

The Indonesian capital will pay residents to catch rats as part of efforts to curb diseases transmitted by the rodents, local reports say.

Jakarta deputy governor Djarot Syaiful Hidayat says residents will be paid 20,000 rupiahs ($A2) for every rat caught and handed over to authorities, the Kompas daily reported.

"Just collect the rats, count them and we will pay," Djarot was quoted as saying.

Rats were rampant in densely populated areas, potentially causing diseases such as leptospirosis, salmonellosis and hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, he said.

Some Jakartans are opposed to the idea.

"Mr governor, please don't go ahead with the plan," a resident pleaded on Twitter.

"People will farm rats, just like what happened in Hanoi."

French colonisers in Hanoi, Vietnam, introduced a program in which people were paid for each rat tail caught, prompting people to start breeding them.