Western parishes winning battle against rats

Improper disposal of waste continues to be the biggest contributor to the problem of rat infestation affecting Montego Bay, St James, but stakeholders in other western parishes are confident they are winning the battle to rid their communities of the rodents.

“Within the township, it is very hard to manage the rodent population, especially if we don’t have proper solid-waste management and improved collection,” said Nadia Burgess, acting chief public health inspector for St James.

“So we have been having some challenges with the collection of solid waste in the township.”

She added: “In terms of fast food [and other] restaurants, we have not seen any evidence of rodents within our fast-food establishment because we conduct regular compliance and routine inspections, and our officers are quite vigilant in ensuring that there are no possible entrances. Once you keep your building rodent proof, then there is little chance of you having rodents.”

DISPOSAL PRACTICES

Burgess said, too, that if operators don’t dispose of their solid waste properly, if the collection of solid waste is not done on a timely basis, and if the residents don’t dispose of their garbage properly, rodent infestation will remain a problem.

Janet Silvera, president of the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry, is concerned about the poor disposal practices of food vendors in the tourist town.

“We have met with the Ministry of Health and the mayor’s office with the hope of starting a public-education campaign, because food vendors, especially on the Hip Strip, continue to dispose of their waste without due consideration and the old Hospital Park is now infested with rats, and downtown Montego Bay is also infested with rats,” Silvera said.

However, there is reportedly no such problem in St Elizabeth, which, according to Derrick Sangster, mayor of Black River and chairman of the St Elizabeth Municipal Corporation, has a robust rodent eradication programme.

“Our health department has been vigilant and recently staged a massive eradication programme in our three major towns,” Sangster said.

Bertel Moore, Savanna-la-Mar mayor and chairman of the Westmoreland Municipal Corporation, said he has not received a report of any major rodent sightings.

“Our garbage collection needs to be consistent, and all I would want to see is greater support from the National Solid Waste Management Authority.”

Lucea in Hanover has had a long-standing problem with rodents overrunning the commercial space and attracting a tab of about $2 million to rid the seaport town of the nuisance, but efforts to contact Mayor Sheridan Samuels for an update were unsuccessful.

In the meantime, Falmouth Mayor Collen Gager said he has managed to maintain a rodent-free Trelawny parish capital amid complaints from foreigners and locals about the unkempt state of drains in the popular Georgian township.

“I have received no such report from the disaster committee or the health department, but we have been maintaining a steady collection of garbage and we have regular flushing and cleaning of our drains,” Gager said.