Rats control action to be stepped up

Action to control rodents at the Qortin dump is to be stepped up, according to WasteServ Malta Ltd, which put the "irregular activity" of rats in Xaghra at the weekend down to the success of its efforts so far.

The announcement follows complaints by Xaghra residents that an army of rats from the dump, which has been closed down, were terrorising them at night as the pests foraged for food.

WasteServ, the government's waste management agency, held an urgent meeting about the situation yesterday with representatives of the Ministry for Gozo and the local councils of Xaghra, Zebbug and Nadur.

The rodent control programme was started in September 2003, when the Qortin site was surveyed before starting rat-control efforts, WasteServ said.

An extensive 'blitz' treatment was then carried out. The agency explained that this was the initial stage of the rodent control programme where the aim was to destroy a substantial amount of rodents at one go in one baiting session.

"The use of such a bait has eliminated the largest possible number of rats and this is leading to the depletion of rodent populations.

"This is being followed by a regular baiting routine to sustain the eradication programme. In so doing, rodents would not be given a chance to re-establish colonies to previous population levels."

The agency said the same blitz treatment was also carried out and completed successfully at Maghtab and Wied Fulija dumps.

However, it claimed that in the case of the Qortin dump the efforts had been effective to the extent that an irregular activity of the extensive rodent population was witnessed at the weekend.

"This control of the rats from the dump indicates that they are dying from poisoning. This will continue to happen due to the acute poison being used to immediately cut down on rodent populations."

WasteServ said that in a joint effort with public service entities and private contractors, it had yet again significantly amplified the rodent control treatment so as to ensure that the rodent population was continuously curtailed while maintaining on-going control.

"The much awaited closure of Qortin and the mitigation measures being taken as part of the rehabilitation are a step towards finally putting an end to such nuisances in the interest of public health and safety."