LCQ10: Rodent prevention and control work at government venues
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Question:
There are views pointing out that the hygiene conditions of government venues not managed by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) (e.g. parks and cultural and recreational facilities managed by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, and public rental housing estates managed by the Housing Department) vary at present, with some of the venues infested with rodents. Regarding the rodent prevention and control work at government venues, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of complaints received by the Government about rodent infestation at government venues not managed by the FEHD, as well as the average time taken to handle each complaint, in each of the past three years, with a breakdown by District Council (DC) district;
(2) whether it has compared the effectiveness of rodent prevention and control work at government venues managed by the FEHD and those not managed by the FEHD in various DC districts; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(3) as there are views pointing out that the Rodent Infestation Rates compiled by the FEHD fail to reflect the actual situation of rodent infestation, whether the Government has other ways to assess the effectiveness of rodent prevention and control work at government venues not managed by the FEHD; if not, of the reasons for that;
(4) whether the parties responsible for the management of various types of government venues not managed by the FEHD are required to adopt rodent prevention and control measures; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(5) whether it has included in cleansing service contractors' contracts awarded for government venues a provision stipulating that the contractors are required to allocate a specified amount of money for adopting rodent prevention and control measures; if so, of the details (including the percentage of such an amount in the total value of the contract); if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
The Government attaches great importance to rodent control. The Environment and Ecology Bureau (EEB) leads the Pest Control Steering Committee comprising over 20 bureaux and departments (B/Ds), which is responsible for setting the overall directions for the Government's rodent prevention and control work; as well as co-ordinating and overseeing the implementation of targeted measures by the relevant B/Ds in venues under their purview (e.g. the public rental housing estates, markets, rear lanes, parks and leisure facilities, etc.), while individual B/Ds are responsible for rodent prevention and control in venues under their purview. Apart from undertaking rodent prevention and control work in its public markets and public places in general, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) also provides guidelines, advice and training to relevant B/Ds.
In order to further strengthen the supervision and co-ordination of the inter-departmental efforts in tackling district-based environmental hygiene and street management problems, the Chief Executive has set up the District Matters Co-ordination Task Force (Task Force). Chaired by the Deputy Chief Secretary for Administration, with the EEB as the main driving party, the Task Force is striving to resolve such "long-standing, big and difficult" problems as rodent infestation. The Government is planning to work together with all sectors of the society in tackling rodent infestation early next year.
Having consulted the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD); the Housing Authority (HA); the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department; the Architectural Services Department; the Buildings Department; the Civil Engineering and Development Department; the Department of Health; the Drainage Services Department; the Education Bureau; the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department; the Environmental Protection Department; the Government Property Agency; the Hospital Authority; the Home Affairs Department; the Highways Department; the Lands Department; the Social Welfare Department; the Transport Department and the Water Supplies Department, the reply to the question raised by the Hon Leung Man-kwong is as follows:
(1) In the last three years, the numbers of rodent infestation complaints and the average handling time for each complaint received by the LCSD, the HA and the relevant government departments, broken down by District Council district, are set out in Annex.
(2) and (4) In order to effectively tackle the rodent infestation problems in different types of venues (e.g. the public rental housing estates, rear lanes, parks, etc.), it is necessary to take into account the causes and circumstances of the rodent infestation problems of the venues and adopt targeted prevention and control measures. To assist the departments responsible for the management of venues in formulating effective rodent prevention and control measures, the FEHD not only provides them and their services contractors with guidelines, code of practice and checklists, but also offers training to their staff. Furthermore, the FEHD conducts joint inspections with the relevant departments and offers them technical advice.
Relevant departments shoulder the responsibility as the venue manager. They formulate internal regulations/guidelines on rodent prevention and control measures for their respective venues based on the actual circumstances of the venues, and with reference to the guidelines and checklists provided by the FEHD. These regulations/guidelines concern, among other things, the inspection of rodent infestation black spots by front-line staff and/or services contractors; installation of rodent baits and traps; filling of rodent holes and repairing of cracks in ceilings, walls or floors, etc. For example, the HA has made reference to the FEHD's guidelines on rodent prevention in the public rental housing estates and reinforced the rodent proofing facilities in appropriate locations in all its public rental housing estates (including installing rodent guards and metal meshes), in order to prevent rodents from entering into the buildings and to block rodent passages and holes.
As the causes and circumstances of rodent infestation problems in different types of venues vary, they have to be tackled through different rodent prevention and control measures. It is difficult to compare the effectiveness of rodent prevention and control work undertaken by different departments in their respective venues. Nevertheless, the FEHD would share with the departments its experiences and outcomes in rodent control and propose to them new techniques and technologies. For example, on the FEHD's recommendation, the LCSD carried out a trial application of the thermal camera monitoring system to track rodent activities and assess the effectiveness of rodent control work in the Ngau Chi Wan Village Sitting-out Area in August 2022. The LCSD found the system effective and would consider applying it in appropriate places.
(3) The FEHD places baits in selected survey locations and regularly gathers statistics on the ratio of baits gnawed by rodents to generate the Rodent Infestation Rate (RIR), so as to assess the prevalence of rodent infestation in the survey locations. Currently, there are 50 survey locations for the Rodent Infestation Survey, some of which covers non-FEHD-managed government venues (including leisure spaces managed by the LCSD and the public rental housing estates managed by the HA).
The FEHD agrees that using the ratio of baits gnawed by rodents as the RIR is less than ideal. It has, therefore, launched a review on the method of the Rodent Infestation Survey. The FEHD is working with a local university to explore the inclusion of other factors in compiling surveillance data, such as the number of rodent trapped, complaint figures, so as to develop a more representative Composite RIR. The survey area of the Composite RIR would cover some non-FEHD-managed government venues.
In addition to the RIR, the relevant departments would take into account the number of complaints of rodent infestation, routine inspection results from their management staff, as well as the views from local community and venue users, etc. in monitoring the situation of rodent infestation and assessing the effectiveness of rodent prevention and control work.
(5) With respect to the rodent prevention and control work in general public places, the FEHD procures services under stand-alone pest control services contracts, and specifies in the contracts the pest control services to be provided and the professional qualification requirements for the contractors' staff at all levels (including experienced supervisory-level staff), etc.
For FEHD's public markets, pest control services are included in the market's management and cleansing services contracts. The contracts specify the mandatory rodent prevention and control services to be provided by the services contractors. If the contractors' services fail to meet the requirements, the FEHD would issue "default notices" to the contractors and deduct their monthly service fees. The contracts do not provide a breakdown of the sum of money to be used for individual areas of work.
For non-FEHD-managed government venues, some B/Ds may arrange stand-alone pest control services contracts for their venues as necessary. For the rest of the B/Ds, the terms of rodent prevention and control services are usually included in the contracts of venue management services or cleansing services depending on actual circumstances. The services contractors should allocate resources appropriately to deliver relevant services according to the needs. As the services are specified in the contracts, there is no breakdown of the sum of money to be used for individual areas of work.
Ends/Wednesday, October 26, 2022
Issued at HKT 16:05
Issued at HKT 16:05
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