SINGAPORE: Clementi Avenue 2 used to be infested with rats. But
thanks to a "Rat Attack Programme" implemented eight months ago,
it's now rodent-free.
The area has rid itself of about 200 rats and 130 burrows.
And this is just one of five pilot sites across the island targeted
by the National Environment Agency (NEA).
For officers from the NEA, pest control agencies and even
grassroots leaders looking for rats, burrows are signs of rodent
activities.
There are usually 1.5 rats found in each active burrow.
For active burrows, the resident rats will be killed first before
the holes are covered.
For inactive burrows where grass can be found growing in them, they
will just be sealed off with sand.
Besides burrows, officers will also seal off structural defects
such as cracks as these provide easy entry points and passageways
for the rodents.
Following the success in Clementi Avenue 2, the rat elimination was
replicated in Avenue 3.
A task force, comprising representatives from the NEA, pest
terminators, shopowners and grassroots bodies, was set up to look
into the problem.
The task force got the cooperation of the community, like the
stallholders at food centres, to ensure the rats are denied their
food source.
It also educated people on the importance of proper housekeeping,
especially in food waste disposal.
Clementi Avenue 3 now has only three burrows, down from 20 six
months ago.
"They are very positive and supportive of this project and they
want to ensure a better living environment. They want to take
ownership and ensure that we keep up a high hygiene standard," Low
Yan How, chairman of Clementi CCC and Clementi Shopowners'
Association, said of the community.
Dalson Chung, head of operations at NEA's Environmental Health
Dept, said: "This shows that our integrated approach towards pest
management, involving the community at all levels, had
worked."
The rat busters plan to share their success story with other
constituencies across the island. - CNA