St James health inspector seeks multi-stakeholder push against rats

WESTERN BUREAU:

Sherika Lewis, acting chief public health inspector for St James, has urged the Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of Local Government and private businesses to join forces in the parish’s rodent eradication drive.

Speaking at last Thursday’s monthly meeting of the St James Municipal Corporation (StJMC), Lewis updated councillors on the health department’s $60 million rodent and mosquito control programme, launched on January 6.

For the rodent control programme, several pellets and blocks of poison have been set in several areas. This programme will span a period of about six months and will be done in eight clusters of communities at different intervals, Lewis outlined.

Lewis stressed that long-term success would require sustained baiting and funding. “In terms of sustainability of the programme in the long term, we would have identified several ‘hot,pots,’ and this would require continuous baiting and, of course, funding. I am calling to action our stakeholders, to include the Ministry of Health and Wellness (MOHW), the Ministry of Local Government, the Ministry of Tourism, and the private sector, to come on board and let us ensure that our parish is safe from rodents and rodent-associated disease, to include leptospirosis which has already claimed lives,” she said.

St James has recorded 15 leptospirosis cases out of 71 suspected, probable and confirmed nationwide up to December 4. Twelve people have died, seven of them from the disease. Spread through water contaminated by rat urine, leptospirosis was declared an outbreak by the MOHW after Hurricane Melissa struck on October 28.

Lewis noted that the department has been in talks with the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) about community workshops to tackle the causes of infestation, particularly poor waste disposal. “There have been discussions in recent times with Mr Mark Jones [the public cleansing inspector for NSWMA’s Western Parks and Markets] on how we are going to be coordinating in the fight against what is happening as a result of poor solid waste management. It is just for us now to cement the approach and to have a formal workshop, and to set up the meetings and the consultations,” she said.

She emphasised that residents and businesses must be involved. “The public is to play a critical part in this series of consultations, and we are also in dialogue to include the private sector, the business operators, in the fight against rodent infestation. It is important for us not to have ‘talk shops’, but to ensure we have practical solutions to the matter at hand, as we do not want to be inundated in garbage,” Lewis continued.

St James has long struggled with poor waste management, a persistent driver of mosquito and rodent breeding. Concerns about infestation intensified after Hurricane Melissa, when uncollected rubbish – both pre- and post-storm – was blamed for worsening the problem.

christopher.thomas@gleanerjm.com