Pest control firms under scanner

Dubai: Residents have been warned to not hire pest control companies which are not licensed by the Dubai Municipality.

Hesham Abdul Rahman Al Yahya, head of the Dubai Municipality's public health pest control section in the public health services department said some pest control companies posted advertisements on doors of flats or threw them into corridors of residential buildings.

But if the companies were not licensed, their customers risked having highly toxic pesticides — which are unlicensed in the UAE — being used in their homes, he said.

Dubai Municipality called upon the public to check if a pest control company was licensed to operate in Dubai. The municipality could send out a list of licensed companies or provide the caller with information over the phone.

It was also essential to ask the pest control company's employee to show their identity card allowing them inside the home, the municipality warned.

The Public Health Pest Control Section at Dubai Municipality issues such identity cards to licensed professionals. A pesticide company's failure to present this card was against the law and should be reported, the municipality said.

Help at hand

Public can check companies licensed to operate in Dubai on the website of the Municipality's Public Health Services Department, http://www.health.dm.ae/ or by calling 800 900 or on the number of Public Health Pest Control Section, 04-3474448.