THE annual battle against the menace of the mighty mossies has intensified this week as infestations are eradicated ahead of the rainy season.
The Municipalities Affairs and Agriculture Ministry and the Health Ministry said, in a joint statement, that combatting mosquitoes and general cleanliness procedures were ongoing.
“We intensify our work during seasonal changes, mainly the rainy season, focusing on areas that mosquitoes tend to thrive in the most,” explained a Health Ministry spokesman.
“Alongside the regular work we do, we also react and respond immediately to complaints about mosquito infestations without prior scheduling.
“We have already dispatched teams to Isa Town, Karranah, Hamad Town, Demistan and surrounding areas.”
The authorities have urged people to constantly check and ensure that water doesn’t settle around rubbish bins or damaged water drainage holes outside properties.
“They can easily become homes for mosquito larvae,” the ministry warned.
The speedy action from both ministries follows numerous public complaints that mosquitoes had started to bite having resurfaced in large quantities across parts of the country.
Mosquito control professionals have been spotted all over Bahrain this week armed with handheld and on-truck fogging devices.
Complaints received came from all governorates of Bahrain, with the experts blaming stagnant water, piled up waste and changing weather for the menace.
The Health Ministry said that environmental health specialists from the Public Health Directorate were present daily to spray pesticides and use thermal fogging across the county.
For immediate intervention, people have been asked to contact 66701633 from 7am to 2pm.
The Municipalities Affairs and Agriculture Ministry said Bahrain’s three municipalities and the Capital Trustees Authority were also regularly cleaning up areas of building waste thrown into open spaces as part of larger daily clean-up effort to stomp out the spread of mosquitoes.
“We have also cleaned rainwater drainage channels and puddles that could see larvae grow during seasonal shifts,” said the Municipalities Affairs and Agriculture Ministry.
“The rules applying to the dispensing of rubbish and throwing waste away should be respected at all times.”
Complaints
Angry Northern Municipal Council councillor Mohammed Al Dossary fears that a cutback on overtime payments to public health specialists had led to some complaints going unanswered.
“It’s no good stepping in the next morning when families have been bitten the night before – action has to be taken outside office hours.”
Muharraq Municipal Council councillor Mohammed Al Meghawi believes that the mosquito menace occurs due to compounded factors and modern development and expansion hasn’t helped.
“Mosquitoes are a known health hazard around mostly coastal areas, reclaimed land and farming areas, some of which have only been inhabited over the past decade,” he said.
Southern Municipal Council chairman Abdulla Abdullatif has called for a ‘long-term solution’ to be found to tackle the peril rather than a scattergun approach.
“Spraying chemicals is only a surface solution to the mosquito problem, while the core issue has remained unresolved for years,” he said.
“People, including myself as a Buhair Valley resident, have had to resort to all sorts of measures to stay safe, such as duct tape placed across all our windows. We don’t open them for fear of getting badly bitten.”
He said that he has been handed several medical reports from residents who had badly suffered from bites.
While they can seem pointless and purely irritating to us humans, mosquitoes do play a substantial role in the ecosystem. Mosquitoes form an important source of biomass in the food chain – serving as food for fish as larvae and for birds, bats and frogs – and some species are important pollinators.
mohammed@gdnmedia.bh
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