Number of rat enclaves found in Singapore has risen sharply this year

Rats, they're still here
Amresh Gunasingham Straits Times 19 Dec 10;

Lunch hour in the bustling Central Business District.

The iconic Lau Pa Sat comes alive as hungry foodies swarm around the area to fill their empty stomachs.

But patrons interviewed paint a different picture in recent years of the 24-hour food centre late at night, when they say it was not uncommon to find a furry rodent running along the ground.

Statistics provided by the National Environment Agency (NEA) show that the number of rat enclaves found in Singapore has increased.

No fewer than 1,687 areas were found with rats by the authorities this year, a four-fold jump from the 443 found last year. Rodents typically nest and burrow in the ground, under buildings, and in rubbish and other types of litter.

This year, more building owners were also fined for attracting rodents because of poor maintenance or uncleared rubbish.

NEA issued 1,874 such fines and warnings this year, a three-fold increase from last year. Such fines can go up to $10,000.

Pest control firms said the problem lies with many food establishments here, which cut corners to save costs.

Some operators use the refuse collectors or building contractors they employ to tackle vector problems when they arise, even if they lack the expertise.

But food establishments insist they are making the best of the situation given the pressures to maintain bottom lines.

Singapore's expanding heaps of rubbish, which have grown six-fold since the 1970s, and the 1,000 new food establishments that open here every year, add to the problem, says the NEA.

Pest control firms also pin the blame on more construction activity fuelled by a resurgent economy.

Part of the problem at Lau Pa Sat was that construction projects surrounding it drove rats out of their nests. Given that they hunt in packs, the food centre became a prime target when the rats foraged for food.

Lau Pa Sat's operator, Residential Properties, was not keen on shutting down its food stalls for a day each month to deal with the problem, said Mr G. Surajan, managing director of pest control firm Major's Pest Management which was hired in 2008.

Instead, the operator asked for the job to be done by sections.

In an ideal scenario, pest control contractors say the most effective way is a total shutdown to do a thorough clean-up.

Typically, their work involves eliminating the food sources, breeding and nesting places of rats.

'Treatment has got to be effective and not partial, so I gave up the contract,' the former president of the Singapore Pest Management Association (SPMA) said, adding it was the first time he had taken such a drastic step.

When contacted, a spokesman for Residential Properties did not want to address questions related to Major's Pest Management. But she conceded that closing the building, a tourist landmark, for a day would 'inconvenience customers' greatly.

The rat problem at Lau Pa Sat, she added, has improved since neighbouring construction works ended this year. A contractor was engaged to do clean-ups twice a month in the evenings.

The area still attracted three complaints this year, said NEA, which issued the management a warning and ordered it to intensify rodent control measures and foodstall owners to dispose of rubbish properly.

In the early years, poorly sanitised homes were rat havens. But as society advanced, they gravitated to open fields near large bin centres or mismanaged building sites.

But NEA said the numbers do not tell the whole story.

Mr Tai Ji Choong, operations head of its environmental health department, said since early this year, routine surveys have been conducted in Singapore, after a spate of rat-related incidents made the news.

These include incidents at the Geylang Serai wet market last year and the Somerset Skate Park earlier this year.

'All this while, monitoring had been ad hoc, responding mainly to public complaints or feedback,' he said. Hygiene officers are typically on the lookout for burrows in open fields or cracks on the wall of a building, all tell-tale signs of rodent breeding clusters.

Rats can spread diseases such as typhus and leptospirosis. They can contaminate food with their droppings, urine and fur.

They also tend to be seasonal creatures, with more seen during rainy months as they come out in search of food and shelter.

All this has meant a roaring trade for the more than 250 pest control firms.

Current SPMA president Andrew Chan, whose firm handles five calls to address rodent issues every week, adds that the 'yuck' factor associated with rodents can be costly to businesses such as restaurants, which live or die on their reputation for keeping up hygiene standards.

One problem the authorities grapple with is the spillover of the rodent population from large bin centres in housing estates into other public spaces.

Town councils, which are in charge of these bin centres, say the rat population in their estates is linked to the estate's age, with the older ones generally seeing more rats. In Jurong, for example, about 70 rats were sighted this year, said a town council spokesman.

The issue will only grow in complexity as Singapore's population continues to grow, said NEA's Mr Tai.

The agency is working on a 'rat attack' campaign with the town councils over the next few months by trying to reduce the number of rat burrows in each HDB precinct using traps and poison and by disposing of waste properly.

These have had some success in driving away the rodents in the past, but it has not taken long for them to return.

Pest control contractors say the issue will require everyone to be on board: from the man in the street, who needs to refrain from littering, to more vigilant building owners and town councils that will pay more attention to cleanliness of the area.

There can be no shortcuts, said Mr Surajan. 'When you choose to take the cheapest way out, you get what you pay for.'

Curb rodent population
Straits Times 2 Jan 11;

I was shocked and worried to read that the number of rat enclaves in Singapore has increased by four-fold within just one year ('Rats, they're still here'; Dec 19).

What surprises me is that the National Environment Agency (NEA) has identified some food outlets,

disposal facilities in buildings and construction sites around the island, as the main root causes.

This points to the fact that the affected food outlets and building owners or managers have forgotten, or overlooked, the fundamentals of good hygienic practices, while those excavating at construction sites have not taken sufficient measures to effectively counter the expected release of rats from underground burrows.

I hope the NEA will not only increase checks and impose more stringent penalties, but also highlight to those responsible that it is pointless for Singapore to be crowned the fastest growing economy in the region if we are also given the dubious reputation of being the city with the fastest growing rodent population.

Khoo Kah Liang