Businesses assist with mosquito spraying

BUSINESSES in central Trinidad are pitching in to assist the Chaguanas Borough Corporation deal with a mosquito invasion in the borough.

Chaguanas Mayor Gopaul Boodhan said because of a lack of funding and zero support from the Insect Vector Control division of the Ministry of Health, businesses in the borough have come forward to assist. “Scores of requests are coming in on a daily for spraying because of mosquito invasion in certain areas,” he told Newsday in a telephone interview yesterday.

He said areas affected by mosquitoes include Felicity, Endeavour, Enterprise, Edinburgh, Longdenville, Charlieville, Montrose and Cunupia. According to Boodhan, equipment used for spraying are broken and in need of servicing.

“Since the start of the rainy season, and even before, I have been calling on the government to look into the matter of servicing vehicles and equipment at the borough corporation, but there has been no response,” Boodhan said. He also said the corporation has been cleaning cesspits and clearing other debris in schools in the district.

According to the mayor, there were many watercourses and drains in dire need of cleaning, but there is no machinery at the corporation to do the work. Added to this, he said, there are many abandoned lots that needed cleaning. “We had to deal with several reports from people about mosquito-infested areas where the bushes are overgrown and drains are dirty,” he said.

The corporation has been serving notices to owners of properties to clean their uninhabited lots. “We need a total intervention in terms of all the government agencies, including the Works Ministry to clean drains and Health Ministry to attend to spraying of the areas,” he said.

Boodhan also called for the release of funding to repair vehicles and other equipment of the corporation. He also said the work of the Community-Based Environmental Protection and Enhancement Programme (CEPEP) workers in the district were limited as they are given the task of clearing the grass at the side of the road, but they cannot clean drains or cut overgrown bushes.