Rat infestation in Serangoon Central and Tampines GreenGem: Town councils fight back
It was not just one rat. It was a mischief of rats.
Town councils are fighting back after rodents were sighted in Serangoon Central and Tampines GreenGem.
Stomper Junie shared videos of the pests scurrying in the bin chute area of Block 427 Serangoon Central.
"The rat situation in Serangoon Central is getting out of control," said the Stomper.
In response to a Stomp query, a spokesperson for the Marine Parade Town Council said it would be conducting more rodent eradication operations in the vicinity.
"In addition, we have increased the cleaning frequency to clean up leftover food and litter in the common areas. At the same time, we have also enhanced the education effort to ensure that irresponsible food waste disposal is significantly reduced," said the spokesperson.
The town council seeks residents' cooperation to ensure that food waste are properly bagged and disposed in the bin chutes or covered bins.
"We are monitoring the situation closely to ensure that the situation improves." added the spokesperson.
Farther east in Singapore, rodents were also spotted at Block 953C Tampines Street 96.
Stomper Art Of Wonder shared a video shared by a neighbour in a Telegram group showing the pests crawling around items dumped in the void deck of the block.
The Stomper called it a "rat party".
Contacted by Stomp, the Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC) said it noted the increase in rodent activity at the new BTO estate of Tampines GreenGem in May 2024 and stepped up its routine rodent inspection and treatment regimen.
The town council told Stomp: "Additionally, we have been working with contractors at the nearby construction sites to tackle the rodent burrows located within hoarded areas. We have observed that items such as cardboard boxes disposed of in the common areas provide rats with new harbouring areas.
"We have tasked our pest control operator to increase the frequency of rodent treatments to weekly, up from the routine monthly treatments. Rodenticide has to be administered in phases to maximise their effectiveness.
"We thus seek residents' patience and understanding that it may take some time for the rodent control operations to yield visible results. Rodent traps have also been set up in strategic locations."
Like the Marine Parade Town Council, AHTC sought residents' cooperation in properly bagging and binning food waste so as not provide the rodents with food sources.
AHTC also urged residents to flatten cardboard boxes and place them only at the designated corners at each block to help tackle the problem.
On Aug 18, Aljunied GRC MP Gerald Giam posted on Facebook that he had visited Tampines GreenGem on National Day and Aug 17 to assess the measures taken by the town council.
He said: "I am glad to see that the volume of discarded cardboard boxes, food waste and construction debris in common areas is much reduced, and most cardboard boxes were neatly flattened and stacked in the designated areas.
"This is due in large part to the cooperation of residents and contractors, and the hard work of the town council estate team on the ground and our conservancy workers, who work late into the night to clean up the common areas.
"Our conservancy contractor has increased the number of conservancy workers to manage the heightened waste in common areas. This surge is typically observed during the first six to nine months at new housing estates, driven by the high volume of home deliveries and renovations of new homes."
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