Overcrowding, illegal dumping and vagrancy in Summer Greens are to blame for a rat infestation there, say residents.
The neighbourhood was once a safe and beautiful place to live in, but it has deteriorated because municipal services have not kept pace with the influx of new residents, says Tracey Groeneweld, a resident of 20 years, who says she now fears for her family’s healthy and safety.
“In the last few years, there have been so many people moving here, and with that, there has been a rise in demand for services like refuse removal. What happens now is that people just dump their rubbish in the canals and parks in the area.
“There are certain places here where you can see the rat infestation is prominent. The block of flats at Marlboro Mews is one of these breeding grounds because there are so many people living there. People’s rubbish bins stay full for a whole week on the property, and this is where the rats come to play.”
Glen Isaacs, another resident, said vagrants added to the problem by living in unsanitary condition and making a mess when they scratched through bins.
“There are just so many vagrants who collect old rubbish and live in unsanitary conditions. This is causing the rodent problem here. We see these rats all hours of the day near all these places where vagrants sleep in the area – the shopping centre, the parks, the canals, the bridge and sometimes in vacant houses in the community. It has become a huge problem, and this cannot be good for anyone’s health. This is how diseases will spread and then we will be in serious trouble.”
Ward councillor Anthony Benadie said he had asked the City to deal with the rat problem in the area.
“We have reported this several times to the City and the City has done a number of pest-control operations there. It’s a major concern, and I also agree with the residents that the causes are due to dumping and vagrants in the area. It is totally unacceptable.
“We are continuing to monitor the situation, and we have been in contact with the department of health with any assistance they can provide.”
A Summer Greens exterminator, Trevor Mwangi, said that rats were mostly nocturnal so sightings of them at all times of the day suggested there was a big population in the area.
“One reason for this is that there may be rat nests that have a lot of individuals and they constantly have to keep sourcing for food. I would suggest people call their nearest pest-control expert because we do not want another plague on our hands. Rats’ diseases can be really dangerous,” he said.
The City did not respond by deadline to Tabletalk’s questions about what would be done to tackle the rat infestation and whether harsher penalties would be meted out against those aggravating the problem.
