There are many black spots of rodent infestation in Hong Kong, causing nuisance to the environment. The Office of The Ombudsman has taken the initiative to investigate the effectiveness of FEHD's rodent control work.
The investigation report pointed out that the FEHD's rodent infestation index survey may not reflect the actual situation, and some front lines also failed to use the correct method of applying rat bait. Doubtful.
The report also mentioned that the FEHD was unable to conduct effective analysis on areas with high levels of rodent infestation complaints, such as the Sham Shui Po district, and take targeted actions, urging the FEHD to review the investigation methods and study whether it is necessary to formulate a more comprehensive "comprehensive" Rat Infestation Index".
The Ombudsman also suggested that the FEHD should strengthen front-line training and enforcement work, and may also consider drawing up a list of markets that need to strengthen rodent control work.
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The Office of The Ombudsman pointed out that the FEHD mainly conducts rodent infestation index surveys at 50 monitoring sites in 19 administrative districts in Hong Kong every six months. Rat infestation is not common, but there are reports of rodent infestation problems in different areas from time to time in the media, and many public opinions reflect the nuisance of rodent infestations at local and specific locations.
The Office of Complaints believes that the FEHD's investigation method has its limitations, the results of the investigation may not reflect the actual situation, and the survey is conducted every six months, which is prone to data lag.
Placing poisonous rat bait on the front line is wrong
In terms of rodent control and rodent control work, the Office has found that some frontline staff failed to use poisonous rat baits correctly, including when using poisonous rat baits, they did not punch holes in the packaging bags for scenting, which directly affected the effectiveness of rat baits. .
Since April 2020, the FEHD has successively stated in the new contract provisions that it must comply with the relevant provisions, and those who violate the provisions will be regarded as serious breaches of responsibility, and a reference video on rodent control has been produced, but the Ombudsman believes that "it's hard to say" Whether the shortfalls are just the tip of the iceberg.”
The PCPD is also concerned about the effectiveness of rodent control in public markets and back alleys, two potential hot spots for rodent infestation.
Although the FEHD stated that it had stepped up its enforcement of the cleaning work in public markets last year, when it inspected individual markets in the same year, it still found various levels of hygienic problems, including the accumulation of rubbish outside individual stalls after the market closed, as well as outside seafood stalls. The ditch is full of rubbish, sundries and seafood residues, most of which are obviously left and discarded by nearby vendors. In disguise, the responsibility is transferred to the cleaning contractor of the FEHD. However, the FEHD only gave a verbal warning to the offending tenants, believing that It is inevitable that the effectiveness of the department's management work is still in doubt.
The PCPD also stated that the FEHD had failed to effectively use the rodent infestation complaint data.
The Office has received an average of more than 10,000 rodent infestation complaints in recent years. However, the Office could not respond to the request of the Office to explain the analysis of the three areas with relatively high number of complaints, namely Sham Shui Po District, Central and Western District and Kowloon City District. In a relatively general explanation, "it seems that the trend of complaints and the concerns of the public are not fully grasped."
However, the PCPD specifically mentioned that although the FEHD needs to make improvements, its efforts and achievements should not be obliterated.
The survey report shows that the AFCD, the Home Affairs Department, the Housing Department and the Leisure and Cultural Department all gave positive comments on their training and technical support, and they have also strengthened departmental collaboration and targeted areas through territory-wide and regional rodent eradication campaigns. For the prevention and control work, "The overall number of rodent eradication in Hong Kong has been increasing in recent years, which I believe is what the public is happy to see."
Appeal to review the survey methods to formulate the "Comprehensive Rodent Infestation Index"
The Office of The Ombudsman suggested that the FEHD should review the current survey methods and study whether it is appropriate to incorporate different factors that can help assess the severity of rodent infestation to formulate a "Comprehensive Rodent Infestation Index". If necessary, local universities and academic institutions may be invited to Institutional cooperation should also consider increasing the number of surveys per year to improve timeliness.
As for rodent control and rodent control, the training of frontline and supervisory personnel can be strengthened. In addition, intensive surprise inspections and strict enforcement of the terms of the tenancy agreement can be carried out, and appropriate legislation can be actively studied to strengthen law enforcement, so as to urge market vendors to properly clean up their stalls. and nearby areas.
The PCPD also suggested that consideration should be given to introducing a review mechanism to set appropriate considerations and standards based on the "risk-based" principle, to systematically review and select the list of markets that need to improve their cleanliness and strengthen rodent control work, and simultaneously review key cleaning actions in districts and the effectiveness of the intensive rodent eradication pilot scheme, and depending on the results and resources, consider expanding the scheme to markets in need.
Kwai Chung floor shops are full of goods in back lanes and roads overnight. District councillors worry about increasing rat infestation and urge to strengthen penalties. Wan Chai is seriously infested with rats There are loopholes in the refutation index: Chengjie food is too odorous to rat bait Last year, the rat infestation complaint of Wan Shihuan pest control contract valued at 1.1 billion The three districts have the largest number of rodents caught in the 50 districts of the FEHD. The rodent infestation monitoring index will be released in the next quarter. There will be a one-month rodent eradication operation. Since 2018, there have been more than 10 cases of hepatitis E in rats. The Ombudsman has taken the initiative to check the effectiveness of the food ring to prevent rodent infestation. Last year, the rodent infestation index reached a 10-year high of 4.2%. Wan Chai District ranks first in Hong Kong
