Sharjah: Sharjah City Municipality, in cooperation with the National Center for Malaria Vector Control at the Ministry of Health and Community Protection, organised a mosquito control campaign that lasted for three days. The campaign covered several areas in the city of Sharjah.
The municipality rolled out this campaign as part of the precautions to eliminate insects and mosquitoes, especially before the start of the winter season. It has intensified its efforts to combat pests and mosquitoes by developing an action plan covering all areas of the city.
Fighting mosquito breeding
Hassan Al Taffaq, assistant director general for Agriculture and Environment, said the municipality had intensified its operations to combat mosquito-breeding points and educate the public about the dangers of mosquito breeding and how to combat mosquitoes with vacuum spraying and heat fogging in the early morning and evening hours. There is a plan that is implemented weekly for all areas of the city based on the integrated pest management programme, targeting accumulation of stagnant water at open spaces and other spots that provide a conducive environment for the presence and reproduction of these pests. This programme is mostly executed by combating the larval and flying phases of the pests.
Deployment of personnel and equipment
Meanwhile, Wisal Jasim Habash, director of the Environmental Services Department, explained that the municipality had provided its teams with all supplies and equipment needed to carry out this campaign, with more than 96 employees comprising supervisors, inspectors and workers deployed for this purpose. They have been provided with safety equipment and various tools — including 24 sprayguns, 24 mist sprayers, five vehicle-borne micro-nebulisers and 24 bags of inspection tools to detect mosquito larvae — for this purpose.
Habash noted that more than 80 litres of specialised pesticides have been used so far to control mosquitoes.
Places where mosquitoes are most likely to breed:
Underneath cooling devices and utensils, water storage barrels, planting trays, water tanks, discarded tyres and pots, water ponds, drainage holes, sewage ponds, stagnant water accumulated at construction sites, swamps and pools.
