Taipa and Coloane Community Service Consultative Council deputy convener Choi Seng Hon quoted Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) officials as saying that the rat population in the streets is “at a manageable and reasonable level”.
Choi said this was according to a survey conducted by the Institute of Zoology of the Guangdong Academy of Sciences (GDAS) last year.
Choi made the remarks during yesterday’s press briefing after a regular closed-door meeting by the council with IAM officials, discussing the city’s mosquito and rodent control work.
Choi pointed out that the bureau has been monitoring and controlling rodent infestation in its wet markets, cooked food centres and vender areas for a long time, and by the end of last year nearly 1,400 rat bait boxes had been set in different spots of the city, basically covering all public streets.
The number of public complaints against rodent infestation decreased from 1,113 in 2019 to 855 last year, Choi said, noting that the number of complaints received in the first quarter of this year dropped by 57 to 173.
Choi quoted the IAM officials as saying that the bureau is assessing the suitability of CO2 powered rodent traps or gravity feed bait boxes with reference to the experience in neighbouring regions.
As for the anti-mosquito work, Choi said, due to the early warming in recent years, the bureau has been conducting chemical mosquito control twice a month in its parks, stressing that the work will be carried out “as much as possible” to achieve an ecological balance.
Choi also called on residents to clean stagnant water every week to prevent mosquito problems at source.
Choi Seng Hon (left), deputy convener of the Taipa and Coloane Community Service Consultative Council, and Leong Chon Kit, a member of the government-appointed council, look on during a press briefing after yesterday’s regular closed-door meeting at the Seac Pai Van Community Integrated Building in Coloane.
– Photo courtesy of TDM
