HELP is being urgently sought to tackle the ravages of a rat explosion in Muharraq, following numerous appeals for assistance by concerned residents.
The Muharraq Municipal Council unanimously approved an urgent proposal for immediate government action to rid residential areas of the plague of disease-carrying rodents.
Rats have been spotted in and around old Muharraq areas, close to protected derelict properties whose owners cannot demolish because they fall on or around Unesco’s World Heritage Site, the Bahrain Pearling Path.
The crackdown pleas came from four members led by councillor Abdulqader Al Sayed who represents Muharraq Governorate constituency three covering middle Muharraq (Al Binali), Bahrain International Airport and surrounding areas, as well as parts of Busaiteen.
“This is a shameful situation,” said council chairman Abdulaziz Al Naar. “We need real action from every concerned ministry and government department because the number of rats is on the rise and they are spreading across town.”
He claimed that the rodents have found sanctuary and are breeding uncontrollably in abandoned protected properties, can be spotted playfully swinging from one place to the next, before they scamper all over the city looking for food.
“The problem is that those former homes can’t be entered to be sprayed, rat traps set or glue sheets installed as they are private properties and, by law, if municipal workers entered them they could be considered to be trespassing.”
Mr Al Sayed said Health Ministry operatives had arrived in recent days but he remains unconvinced it will be enough to solve the problem.
“I have proposed they use modern genetic techniques to end the rats’ menace, but again it will just lower the numbers over time,” he said.
“There has to be joint effort by government officials to end the misery of people still in the area and it could start with Baca opening the doors of properties under its protection for cleaning.
“Imagine what visitors would think seeing a line of rats crossing the road as they come from Bahrain International Airport and on Airport Highway.”
The council’s technical committee chairman and Muharraq Governorate constituency one (Busaiteen and Al Sayah) councillor Mohammed Al Mahmood said the rodent invasion had now extended to new properties in his area.
“When rats are left unattended they will breed and spread like wildfire and, as a representative of one of four ‘Healthy Cities’ in Bahrain, that is not good news,” he said.
“Unlike the classic tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin we’re not going to find a flute player to drive the rodents away – this is real life, and we are faced with a serious issue.
“Honestly, it doesn’t matter if the rats get caught by a net, incinerated or glued to a sheet – people want them gone and never to return. The numbers are increasing and there has to be a clear short-term plan of action and a well thought out long-term solution.”
The council’s decision has been referred to Health Minister Dr Jalila Al Sayyed, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning Minister Wael Al Mubarak and Oil and Environment Minister Dr Mohammed Bin Daina to act on. It has also been referred to Information Minister Dr Ramzan Al Nuaimi, who acts politically for the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities.
Mohammed@gdnmedia.bh
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