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PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL
In schools, there used to be a subject on health education in primary education but it was cancelled and incorporated into the subject on social science. Since a number of subjects are merged into one, the original subject on health education may be overlooked. It is therefore hoped that the Education Department will include the topic of pest control in the present syllabus so that students may, as early as their primary school days, acquire proper knowledge about rat prevention at home and in the surroundings.
(2) Promotion of improvement in environmental hygiene
Promotion of improvement in environmental hygiene starts with individuals and organizations. It is imperative that one keeps one's home clean. If odds and ends are not kept orderly, kitchen rubbish and leftover are not properly disposed of, food is not properly stored and garbage is not placed in covered dustbins, then rats will feed on them and multiply.
Public places such as restaurants should attach greater importance to the cleanliness of kitchens. In particular, drains should be free from blockage (that is, no leftover should be kept to provide food to rats). Odds and ends in public areas or construction sites should be removed as quickly as possible. They should not be stored up for a long time. The refuse collection points of the Council and housing estates should be kept clean at all times. The Housing Department should inspect frequently places where there are squatters, particularly squatter areas, to ensure that they are kept clean. As for vacated squatter areas, very often they are simply left there, not being attended to or cleaned. It is hoped that the squatter unit of the Housing Department will remove any rubbish in these areas as quickly as possible and keep the environment clean. If a place is kept clean, offering no chance for growth and reproduction, rats will certainly cease to survive when there is no supply of food.
(3) Stepping up of rodent disinfestation
The Urban Services Department should step up efforts in this area. At present we place a kind of rodenticide which prevents blood-clogging in places frequented by rats. After taking it, rats will die from bleeding. This is a very effective way, but we need more staff to carry out inspections to identify places frequented by rats. We also need to promote publicity on our hotlines so that members of the public may contact the Pest Control Section to provide information and to enable us to place anti-blood-clogging rodenticide to exterminate rats. In private places or at home, devices such as mousetraps and mouse cages may be used to catch them.
As for households, apart from keeping cats as pets, they could keep cats to catch mice. As cats are made pets, they have lost their instinct of catching mice and so, cats are now a plaything only, which no longer know how to catch mice. We should encourage the rearing of cats which know how to catch mice to revive their instinct. I can recall that we used to describe the company of a tall guy and a short guy as 'a lamppost with a mice disposal box hanging on it.'
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