IN some communities across South Trinidad, residents have taken matters into their own hands to curb a surging mosquito population by spraying insecticides and other repellents near their homes.

Penal/Debe Regional Corporation chairman Gowtam Maharaj told the Express yesterday that villagers in Ramai Trace and Ramsubhag Trace have been purchasing malathion insecticide, kerosene and spreading mineral oil in an attempt to protect themselves from the deadly insects.

Ramsubhag Trace is a community in which at least one of the two confirmed dengue deaths recorded in the country is said to have occurred.

Maharaj said, “There are mosquitoes everywhere. Everywhere you sit everywhere you stand, they are everywhere. In Ramsubhag Trace, where there was the death, the residents have been spraying. They are trying to replicate what they have seen in the years before where the mineral oil films would stymie the growth of the eggs and larvae popping out of the eggs. For immediate comfort and relief, it is working as a repellent, but long term it will not work,” he said in a telephone interview yesterday.

In Siparia, Mayor Doodnath Mayrhoo said that residents who have felt the need for immediate relief have undertaken similar steps. “In some instances, persons who cannot wait, they usually go and buy the chemicals and spray it around their homes,” he said.

‘Collaboration needed’

Maharaj, who on Monday told TV6’s Morning Edition that spraying everywhere and everything was likely not the solution, said that the regional corporations and public were in urgent need of technical advice from the Ministry of Health’s Insect Vector Control Division (IVCD).

Guidance on the environmental impact of spraying, and what kinds of insecticides or methods ought to be used were noticeably ‘absent,’ to the corporations and to residents alike, he said.

He said while the division had been visiting homes, it was likely equipped with resources and competence that could inform how the issue is treated in the long term.

As concerns of dengue and other mosquito-related diseases are on the rise, a multi-sectoral and ministerial approach, he said, is necessary.

“In Ramsubhag Trace, where I am now, one death has taken place, the funeral was yesterday, and one young lady is in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) as we speak. We cannot be reactive. The data needs to be shared and a collaborative effort needs to take place,” he said.

Maharaj however denied that the issue of dengue cases was being politicised, as stated by Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh.

“We are dealing with the trauma of the people. This is what the ministry is constructed for, to deal with the traumatised people in these conditions. There was death here… There is no way that this is politicising. It is not a case of politicising. I am in front of the house where the death has taken place. If anyone could equate that with politicising, I would be happy to learn how they arrived at such a conclusion,” he said.

He said that the corporation had not yet received funding allocated to it for its development projects for the 2024 financial year. As such, infrastructural works to remove water and reduce the habitat of the aedes aegypti mosquito, had not been completed.

“We have had zero dollars released; the regional corporation has not had any money released under our development project. I am creating that association in terms of why we are where we are. It is the beginning of the rainy season, it is the tenth month in the financial year, and we would not have had a single dollar in water removal infrastructural mechanisms,” he said during TV6’s Morning Edition.

Siparia Mayor: Reduce breeding grounds

Mayrhoo said that while the Siparia Borough Corporation had received numerous reports of mosquito infestations, its dyna fogging unit was on the ground, doing all it could to assist. He said the corporation does not have the manpower or resources to spray all critical areas thus far, but was depending on the IVCD for assistance.

“We have been spraying overtime, we have been working weekends and Sundays trying to deal with the entire area. The IVCD was in the process of trying to organise transport when we last spoke. I have not received an itinerary from the insect department at this time and we are trying to get one,” he said.

He said it was important for residents to do their part and ensure that all potential breeding grounds were eliminated.

Deyalsingh responds

Asked about the IVCD and the rising mosquito population on Sunday, Deyalsingh said that there was a need to focus on citizens and homeowners’ responsibility to reduce potential breeding grounds.

A briefing on the dengue fever efforts undertaken by the ministry, sent by Deyalsingh, stated that the division had been utilising multiple spraying methods to target adult mosquitoes including indoor Residual Spraying (IRS) which involved the application of an insecticide on the hard surfaces of a home or building and usually has an effect for up to three months as well as thermal fogging

The division has also been using Ultra Low Volume Spraying (ULV) to apply insecticide to large outdoor spaces.

Spraying, he said, was not the answer as the insects can build up resistance and chemicals may pose a threat to humans and the environment.

“That is why source reduction by eliminating breeding sites in our homes, schools, workplaces and places of worship where we spend many hours is critical,” he said.

Deyalsingh said that the increasing population was a global problem due to changing weather patterns including period weather phenomena like La Nina and El Nino, the latter of which is associated with higher temperatures and extreme weather.

Experts expect El Nino’s conditions may cause increased breeding and survival rates for the insects.