Rat infestation in Victoria more serious than expected |01 April 2020
Rat infestation in and around Victoria is more serious than expected and it is important that sanitary measures are enforced to effectively address the public health concern by putting the rodents under control.
Pest control company PESTEA aired the concern at the weekend following the end of a week-long Rodent Awareness Week launched earlier this month in collaboration with the Office of the Mayor of Victoria, the Land Waste Management Agency (LWMA) and the Ministry of Health.
As part of the campaign PESTEA placed 100 live cages at strategic locations and hot spots around Victoria during the one week and that was mainly at the Gran Kaz, Victoria Market, Marine Charter, Seychelles Public Transport Corporation (SPTC) bus stand, Unity House around Butcher’s Grill, the Camion Hall among other places. The aim of the campaign was to have a better idea of the level of infestation by the rodents.
The Rodent Awareness Week was fully funded by PESTEA at a cost of between R20,000 and R25,000.
“We have seen that the problem is very serious, in fact more serious than we expected. We have caught 387 rats over a period of seven days but it is important to take into account the way food remains are being disposed of and as this is being done carelessly, rats have an abundance of food in Victoria and this have had an impact on the figures but at the same time the large number of rodents caught show that we definitely have a big problem to deal with,” Lynn Tregarthen, responsible for sales and publicity at PESTEA Pest Control, has said.
She noted that there are places where more rats have been caught and such places like near and around takeaways and other food outlets infestation is really serious.
At the end of the campaign Ms Tregarthen said the businesses were informed of the situation and the urgent need to take steps to carry out pest control at their establishments and they were also advised on cleanliness and stricter hygiene measures and how to better dispose of their food waste.
“We would like to see the level of hygiene in general stepped up around Victoria and also all the laws and regulations which takeaways and other food outlets have to follow effectively reinforced. There should also be strict guidelines under which street vendors should operate,” Ms Tregarthen stressed.
Following the campaign she said a report with a series of recommendations will be presented to the Office of the Mayor for further action.
Ms Tregarthen went on to highlight that the recommendations include for instance the need for all food outlets to have a compulsory waste contract and pest control contract with a service provider or strict guidelines to follow not only to put the rodents under control but also to give clients more confidence and trust when they enter an outlet to buy food.
Our photos show PESTEA workers setting up the traps at the start of the campaign.
Marie-Anne Lepathy