Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Rats

March 27, 2012
MPSP: Smoke out method effective in rodent control
Star

THE Seberang Prai Municipal Council (MPSP) will smoke out rodents from drains and alleyways, beginning with markets, to eradicate the population of the pests on the mainland.

Municipal councillor Francis Ong Koon Liak said the “smoke out” method, which was similar to fogging to destroy aedes mosquitoes and their larvae, was found to be effective in getting the rats out of their rut holes.

“The council’s Health Department officers use a combination of diesel and a chemical called Pesguard FG-161 to smoke out the rodents.

“The smoke brings discomfort to the rodents, forcing them to come out of their hiding place,” he said after Deputy Chief Minister II Dr P. Ramasamy opened the council’s anti-rodent campaign at Chai Leng Park market on Sunday.

Ong said the department’s officers successfully caught 16 rats in less than 30 minutes during a smoke out activity at the campaign opening at the market.
Rat hunt: MPSP Health Department officers using fogging machines to drive out rats from drains during an operation at Chai Leng Park market

He said the activity would be carried out after business hours at the markets to avoid inconveniencing shoppers and contaminating the food.

“I have set aside RM10,000 from my councillor’s allocation funds for the project, which was first initiated at the Mak Mandin market in January.

“Apart from giving out free rat traps to the public, the council has also announced that it will give RM1 to the public for every rat surrendered dead or alive to its Health Department,” he said.

Ong said the response toward the ‘rat trapping’ promotion in Mak Mandin was rather slow as the public there had surrendered only 15 rats throughout January.

“But, it could also mean that there are less rats in the neighbourhood in that area.

“Next month, we will head to the markets in Kepala Batas and Nibong Tebal with a similar promotion there,” he said.

Dr Ramasamy said those who surrendered rats at the council’s rat-surrendering counter at the Chai Leng Park market up till April 25, would receive RM1.50 per rat instead, as his Prai service centre would top up 50sen for every rat surrendered.

The rat-surrendering counter is open on Monday, Wednesday and Friday between 9am and 11am.

For details, contact the council’s health officers Khairil Anwar Othman (019-4086863) or Mohd Fadhil Din (012-5134686).

No comments: