Laurence Dollimore
LOCALS in Malaga have blasted the city for only having four employees dedicated to tackling the growing rat problem.
Former PSOE Mayor Begoña Medina agreed that more needs to be done, but added that the pest control has been outsourced to a private company since 1995.
“Currently, there are only four workers in the city in the rodent control service, and scarce economic resources are also allocated if we compare them with other cities such as Toledo,” he said.
Socialist spokesman, Daniel Perez, said: “Repeatedly, the Socialists have denounced this situation that affects the daily lives of residents in areas like Puerta Blanca, El Palo, Campanillas or Churriana, where a very high presence of rats has been detected.”
“It is very worrying that neighbors have made constant claims without the City Council doing anything about it, as is the case of the residents of the César Álvarez Dumont square, located in Puerta Blanca, which has a playground where rodents make an appearance in broad daylight, causing concern among parents and children who play there.”
Perez added that it is imperative that ‘the company awarded the pest control work do it in an efficient manner, something that clearly currently does not happen as the residents have been complaining for a long time.’
He added: “Rats are generating a public health problem, since they are animals that are vectors for the transmission of diseases, which is why they must be controlled.
“Limasa must improve the collection service of organic waste deposited from the container as well as its cleaning to prevent the proliferation of rodents in the area, and the government team has to do the work that has not been carried out for so long to eliminate the problems of rodents and for this it is mandatory to increase control over abandoned sites that have been transformed into dumps and public dumps where these animals proliferate.”
He accused PP mayor, Francisco de la Torre, of forgetting the city .
Begoña Medina has said the PSOE are going to present a motion in the Environmental Sustainability Plenary Committee to make town hall pest control more effective.
“Our neighborhoods are very worried, in many public squares there are playgrounds where rats roam freely and create a dangerous situation for children playing there,” he said, “the government team is not doing anything.
” tackle the problem by making preventive plans so that citizens do not have to suffer the consequences derived from this plague of rats. The neglect of the PP has caused the number of rodents to grow and become a public health issue that must be resolved immediately. “
