ZOOMLION STARTS DISINFECTION EXERCISE IN BA (PAGE 20)

THE Brong Ahafo Regional office of Zoomlion Ghana Limited, a waste management company, has embarked on a two-week massive disinfection and fumigation exercise in the region to drastically reduce the larvae and adult mosquitoes, the vector which causes malaria.
The programme, which started in the Sunyani Municipality, is targeting public toilets, marketplaces, slaughter houses, valleys, drains, final disposal sites, refuse container sites, as well as all residential areas, including those of the Regional Minister, Municipal and District Chief Executives, heads of departments and palaces of traditional authorities.
Already, 440 recruited spraying gangs have successfully undergone training with the assistance of Valent Biosciences, experts in vector control from the United States (US), and other local institutions and agencies.
The recruits were trained to handle assorted equipment including 200 Solo spraying machines, hudson and forgger machines, which when mounted, could cover a wider area of between 30 and 50 metres.
Besides, the company has acquired a variety of biological and chemical insecticides that could adequately take care of the mosquito vector while a number of vehicles have also been procured for the effective running of the programme.
The Deputy Brong Ahafo Regional Operations Supervisor of Zoomlion, Mr Nicholas Ofori, and the Pest Control Officer of the company, Mr Ernest Osei Brenya, made this known to the Daily Graphic in Sunyani at the weekend.
They also stated that with the assistance of the Sunyani Municipal Environmental Health Officer, Mr Simon Opoku, all the targeted sites had been identified for the smooth start of the programme.
According to Messrs Ofori and Brenya, the regional spraying programme was a prelude to a nationwide mosquito control programme to be undertaken by the company soon.
They stated that in the course of the regional spraying exercise, “We are mapping mosquito larvae and adult mosquito surveillance in the region and later tackle them holistically.”
For the exercise to be effective, the two officers said the spraying gang would adopt a method known as “internal residual spraying” that would take care of every home.
Giving reasons for the whole programme, Messrs Ofori and Brenya said, “When we are attacking the filth, which we are doing now, we have to also deal with other environmental nuisance, such as the mosquito.”
They said in so doing, there would be “Anaesthetic” environment and reduction of out-patient department (OPD) attendance at the various health facilities and thereby improve qualitative health of the people.
According to them, the project was basically and essentially an attack on the vector mosquito, adding that the exercise would be sustained until “we realise that the mosquito population has been reduced drastically if not eradicated”.