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85
Baiting of Sewers.—The Borough Engineer has kindly supplied
me with the undermentioned information of the treatments carried
out in the Council's sewers in connection with the scheme :—
The Council have continued in the baiting of sewers at manholes using a highly toxic ready mixed bait containing 25%
Fluoracetamide. Stringent safety measures were observed for the
protection of the operatives handling the material and each manhole was marked with red paint to indicate that poison was used.
In May the bait was introduced into some 1,117 manholes and
in October into 1,184 manholes throughout the Borough. No
census baitings have been undertaken.
Anti-Fly and Anti-Mosquito Campaign.—During the summer period, April to September, the campaign has continued on
similar lines to previous years. Two men are employed in this
important preventive aspect of the Department's work consisting
of dealing with complaints and carrying out routine inspection and
treatment of sites where breeding may occur. A 5 cwt. van is used
to convey personnel and the necessary appliances and materials.
The major factors to be controlled include house refuse
contained in the dust chutes and dustbins, food shops, cafes and
canteens, static water sites, water butts, derelict baths and tanks,
ponds and ditches, etc.
During the year 21 complaints regarding flies and mosquitoes
were received and a further 32 instances were revealed during
survey. Again a persistent source of complaint arose from
the S.E.G.B.'s allotment area where, during the summer period,
the Bendix outfall left pockets of stagnant water on the low-lying
land which gave rise to conditions ideally suited for the breeding
of mosquitoes. Effective control was then obtained with antimalarial capsules and, as a consequence, complaints from this
source were greatly reduced. At the end of the current year, some
form of drainage was being instituted which, when completed,
should, in a large measure, eliminate the basic cause of complaint.
The treatment of house refuse in the dustbins was carried out
by arrangement with the Borough Engineer, a small quantity of
'Gammexane' powder being sprinkled into the dustbins at each
weekly collection. Dust chutes in the numerous blocks of flats
received regular treatment with 'Gammexane' powder by anti-fly
personnel, as soon as possible after dust collection and 1,814 treatments were so carried out.
A gradually diminishing number of static water sites, ditches,
etc., were sprayed with either D.D.T. in Kerosene or Malariol, and
in certain instances dusted with ' Gammexane' powder.