AFTER waiting six months, the Mayor and City Council’s (M&CC) Public Health Department has finally been granted the tools and chemicals needed by the Vector Control Department to keep the City clean and rid it of mosquitoes.

Last January, the M&CC held a press conference at which they reported that the intention was to conduct massive cleaning exercises and do additional works in an effort to keep dengue at bay.

With the imminent dengue outbreak looming, the City Council had said it wanted to spray the City more often for mosquitoes. The chemicals and tools needed were however lacking.
Last Monday, though, medical officer and head of the Public Health Department, Suzette Reynolds, told the Guyana Chronicle that the materials are finally with the Vector Control Department.

“There is a schedule in which the staff is going out to spray larvacide to kill the mosquitoes. We have been in a neglected state from since 2018 to half of 2019. So finally, that widespread action is able to happen across all council buildings, market areas, and places that the public would congregate,” Reynolds informed.

According to her, rat bates stations have been set up, along with the larvaciding of the external environment which includes the waterways or yards that are flooded. “We are also taking a census of the houses in Georgetown as to know how many persons live in the wards that we have. This, in the long run, would be useful for us.”

Reynolds informed that there have been numerous reports of increased mosquito activity, especially with the changing weather. “The mosquitoes like to lay their eggs in the water and the low lying areas would have a high rate of mosquitoes breeding happening,”
Prior to the chemical treating exercise, the department had other modes of control where the staff would upturn mosquito reservoirs to prevent breathing. “Of course, we can’t upturn the drains and yards that are flooded, but the other action that was needed was the chemical action which is happening now.”

Currently, there are only three vector control staff members and hence the City Council does not have the manpower to effectively cover the entire City.

Reynolds explained that lacking currently is a foreman, whose job would include looking over the field officers to ensure that they comply with their required tasks. “The deputy chief environmental health officer would go out and be that person. I think that is demoting her role. If the actual chief is absent, or on vacation leave, it means that we wouldn’t have any control over who is doing what and if they’re doing it effectively. They will report that they are doing it, but we can’t ensure that they are, because you know junior staff could be insubordinate at times,” the officer pointed out.

However, the three officers, all ladies, who are on the job at the moment, are doing an acceptable job, although there is need for more workers to cover the length and breadth of Georgetown.