Public must accept that animal feeding poses pest problem: MEWR

Channel NewsAsia 21 Jan 15;

SINGAPORE: Managing the danger posed by irresponsible animal feeding requires a collective effort by Government agencies, animal welfare groups and the public, Second Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Grace Fu said on Tuesday (Jan 20).

Under the Environment Public Health Act, those who do not clear away leftover food after feeding stray animals may be fined up to S$2,000 for littering, Ms Fu said in a written answer to a Parliamentary question from MP Zaqy Mohamad on regulations on animal feeding.

“Food that is left on open ground or improperly disposed of causes the proliferation of rats, cockroaches and other vermin,” she said, adding that containers with stagnant water also allow mosquitoes to breed.

“The health and safety of humans must remain paramount,” she said. “We hope the public will understand and support these measures."

- CNA/ek

More than 10,000 rodent burrows detected in just two months last year
ROBIN CHOO Today Online 23 Jan 15;

SINGAPORE — They could smell a rat several thousand times over in just two months last year, a sign of how rodents in the heartlands can easily turn into a major problem if left unchecked.

Between October and November, the National Environment Agency (NEA) detected more than 10,000 rodent burrows, with 90 per cent of them found in housing estates.

The figure, revealed by the agency yesterday, represents a sharp increase from the 6,400 burrows discovered during the same period in 2013.

On Tuesday, Second Minister for Environment and Water Resources, Ms Grace Fu, told Parliament that 35,000 rat burrows were detected and treated by the NEA in the first 11 months of last year.

“We are concerned about the increase in the number of burrows detected,” the NEA said, adding that the agency received 4,106 instances of feedback last year, compared with 3,031 in 2013.

The increase in rat problems could be partly due to the availability of multiple food sources, said an NEA spokesperson.

The NEA also noted that a single female rat can produce as many as 2,500 rats — which means that the rodent population can multiply quickly within a short period of time if left uncontrolled.

Last month, reports of rodent infestation next to Bukit Batok MRT Station led to a public outcry.

More than 300 rats were killed by pest controllers after nearly three weeks of extermination operations.

The NEA said yesterday it had conducted surveillance at more than 144,000 food retail establishments last year.

It has also audited 85 out of more than 200 shopping malls so far, which involves, among other things, physical site inspections and advising mall management on what needs to be done to improve overall rodent control measures.

Pest controllers told TODAY they had seen an increase in requests, from residential homes to large commercial buildings, to deal with rodent issues over the past year. Some saw as much as a 30-per-cent rise in calls between last year and the previous year.

In an increasingly urbanised Singapore, rodents have “evolved” in their nesting, harbourage and foraging behaviour, said Ms Audrey Ong from the business development department of ORIGIN Exterminators, a pest control company.

She added that general industry practices of dealing with rats have not kept up with that development.

“Given that rodents are generally adaptable and intelligent creatures … there needs to be a paradigm shift in how we ‘outsmart’ rodents.”

Mr Patrick Chong, managing director of Aardwolf Pestkare, said the increase in food littering in common spaces may have contributed to the rise in the rodent problem. He said due to a lack of manpower, smaller food operators often fail to keep their premises clean and dispose of the rubbish after operating hours.

Pest control agencies suggest that building owners, building management and food operators should take a more proactive approach in dealing with rodents, instead of simply reacting to the problem when it crops up.

Consistent and regular monitoring of premises would be a better long-term solution, they say, as this allows swifter response to any emerging rat problems.

However, Mr Chong noted that budget constraints may make it difficult for companies to adopt such an approach.

“At the end of the day, rat control is about ... how committed the person is in wanting to control the rats,” he said.

Appeal to all: Help get rid of rats and mozzies
Feng Zengkun The Straits Times AsiaOne 23 Jan 15;

THE ratty problem outside the Bukit Batok MRT station is indicative of a nuisance that plagues many parts of Singapore.

In the first 11 months of last year, more than 35,000 rodent burrows were found across the island and their inhabitants annihilated by the National Environment Agency (NEA).

The agency has also put more officers on the ground in recent years to make sure food shops abide by good hygiene practices and do not feed the problem.

The intensified effort to choke off any infestation was disclosed in Parliament yesterday by Ms Grace Fu, Second Minister for the Environment and Water Resources.

In recent months, several places in Singapore had suffered rat colonies.

The most notorious one was outside the Bukit Batok MRT station.

Videos posted online show a slope the size of a football field infested with rats.

Ratbusters were called in and they killed more than 300 rodents in a two-week campaign last month.

But killing the horrid creatures will not wipe out the problem unless people practise good housekeeping, including managing their food waste properly, said Ms Fu, who is also Minister in the Prime Minister's Office.

"The key to rodent control is to eliminate food sources...We need all stakeholders, from food-stall and restaurant operators to companies that are in charge of cleaning, to really step up and ensure we have a hygienic and clean environment," she said.

Dengue is another scourge Ms Fu urged people to help get rid of.

Although the number of breeding sites found has declined, the problem persists.

Between January and November last year, more than 16,000 breeding sites were uncovered, a 19 per cent annual drop.

A new gravitrap surveillance programme that the NEA introduced in dengue clusters and high-risk areas has caught about 32,000 mosquitoes since it was put on trial last year.

"This is the first year we have such statistics, so we will probably use this as a basis for studies going forward," Ms Fu said.

The NEA is also exploring the possibility of reducing the local dengue-carrying Aedes aegypti mosquito population through biological means, she said, citing the Wolbachia bacteria-carrying male mosquitoes.

When they mate with female mosquitoes, the latter produce eggs that do not hatch.

Meanwhile, Ms Fu urged all home and premises owners, town councils and managers of public areas to take responsibility for ensuring there is no room for the mosquitoes to breed.

She said: "NEA's officers cannot be everywhere, any time, all the time."

Rats! Warning of diseases as complaints soar
Feng Zengkun The Straits Times AsiaOne 25 Jan 15;

Singapore's rat problems have worsened in the past year, with the authorities fielding many more complaints and discovering a sharp rise in the number of rat burrows.

Pest busters are also warning that the apparent explosion in the rat population could lead to diseases spreading and even fires in older buildings if the rodents gnaw on power cables.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) alone received 4,106 complaints about rats last year, about 35 per cent more than the 3,031 complaints in 2013.

Its latest round of inspections of public areas in October and November last year also uncovered about 10,000 rat burrows across the island, up from 6,400 burrows in the same period in 2013.

The Government has said that more than 35,000 burrows were found and the rats killed in the first eleven months of last year.

The NEA said close to 90 per cent of the burrows in its October- November inspection were in housing estates.

Improper storage and disposal of food waste could be one cause of infestations, it said, adding that the number of rats can multiply exponentially in a short time.

For example, a single adult female Norway rat and its offspring can add as many as 2,500 rats to the population in a single year, it said.

"We are concerned about the increase in the number of burrows detected," said a spokesman.

Pest-control firms said they received up to 60 per cent more rat-related inquiries in the past year. PestBusters' technical director Eugene Surendra said: "For a small island like Singapore, the rat burrow figures are very alarming, and do not auger well for our reputation as a clean country."

If the rats come into contact with food, they could pass on diseases like salmonellosis, which can cause diarrhoea, fever, vomiting and even dehydration.

In 2012, a foreign worker's death was linked to leptospirosis, a bacterial infection spread from rats to humans.

Star Pest Control's general manager Bernard Chan said rats may gnaw on power cables to sharpen their teeth.

"If the wires are exposed, people may be electrocuted by live wires during maintenance work, the electricity supply may become unstable and household appliances could catch fire," he said, although he has not seen such incidents.

The NEA said the key to getting rid of rats is removing their food sources and hiding places.

Malls, for example, should prevent rats from entering and breeding on their premises by plugging holes and gaps in their walls.

Everyone, from land owners to building managers and food shop operators, should store food and food waste in rat-proof containers, keep their premises clean and carry out routine pest-control checks and treatment, it added.

On its part, the NEA did more than 144,000 inspections on food shops last year. It has audited 85 out of over 200 malls to ensure that their rat-control measures are adequate.

The agency has also been working with town councils on a "rat attack programme" since 2011, which includes trapping the rats and sealing their burrows.

Twelve public areas, including those in Geylang, Joo Chiat and Orchard Road, received special attention because of their high density of eateries and human traffic.

The rodent situation in these enclaves "is largely under control", said the NEA, with the number of burrows found falling from 119 in March last year to 11 in December.