DUBAI // A campaign to educate the public about pests is being credited as one of the reasons for fewer calls to the emirate's pest-control department.
The body received 29,465 calls between January and September - 5,359 fewer than the same period last year.
"These notifications include emergency and non-emergency calls," said Hisham Abdulrahman Al Yahya, head of the section.
The emergency requests, which relate to snakes, scorpions, bees, wasps and spiders, are responded to within 24 hours.
"Non-emergency requests for mosquitoes, flies, cockroaches, ants, bed bugs, rats, mice, et cetera, are carried out within three business days," he said.
Mr Al Yahya attributed the drop to better monitoring and evaluation of infection levels of certain pests. "There are field control programmes by different teams working to control it," he added.
The section has run campaigns about how pests spread and the risks to public health, he said.
Lectures and workshops were held at schools, government departments, commercial centres and hypermarkets to educate the public about the dos and don'ts of dealing with pests.
Mr Al Yahya advised residents against administering pesticides themselves, recommending the use of pest-control companies licensed by the municipality. You can report illegal pest-control practices by calling 800900.
