Mon, 21 Aug 2017 13:22:11 +0000
By Chikumbi Katebe
AN infestation of mosquitos is making life difficult for residents of Lusaka’s Emmasdale and Garden Compound who have called on the Lusaka Water and Sewerage Company to spray the area.
Some residents have told the Daily Nation that they were no longer enjoying peaceful nights with mosquitoes around them.
Juliet Katenshi, a Garden Compound resident complained that these mosquitoes have stolen their peace of mind as they have evolved into intelligent creatures which sneak into the house even when the doors and windows were closed.
“We cannot understand how these mosquitoes enter the houses even if you close the doors early enough, you just find them inside.
“Now we have rough skins which look like someone suffering from scabies and yet it’s as a result of mosquito bites,” she said.
She complained that they no longer enjoyed family time to watch television or sit and chat because mosquitoes have taken over that luxury.
She appealed to LWSC to treat their Manchinchi facility to help reduce the number of mosquitoes that emanate from the sewer ponds.
“Lusaka Water and Sewerage must do something before things get worse. It’s amazing we are not seeing people getting sick of malaria but it’s no guarantee, what about the skin bite-marks? We need attention,” she said.
And James Lang of Emmasdale said they could not understand the origin of the high numbers of mosquitoes which he explained that it also affected Matero area.
He said they have tried insecticide but that it has lamentably failed to eliminate the insects.
However, LWSC public relations officer Shamba Muzungu has advised that the sewer ponds could not be the only source of mosquitoes in the area as there were many shallow wells and pit latrines which were potential breeding grounds.
He said the water utility had scheduled treatment to reduce mosquitoes breeding at the facility.
“We cannot attribute the high numbers of mosquitoes to the ponds only because as you may be aware there are a lot of shallow wells and stagnant water around the area, which is breeding grounds for the mosquitoes.
“And, in fact, we have periodic maintenance programmes to reduce mosquito breeding at our facilities which is an ongoing programme,” he said.
He said even the Ministry of Health should have an indoor residue spraying programme active in such residential areas to help keep mosquitoes away.
He has called on the residents to bury shallow wells and maintain their surroundings to reduce potential mosquito breeding grounds and also support indoor residue spraying programmes.
