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61
The furniture of all prospective Council tenants, or of tenants transferring
from one Council tenement to another, is inspected a few days
prior to the date of removal, and, if found to be infested, one of the
following two methods is employed to free the furniture from vermin,
according to whether the infestation is slight or severe:—
(i) Spraying of furniture, with or without steam disinfestation
of bedding;
(ii) HCN fumigation of furniture in vans during transit to Council
houses and steam disinfestation of bedding.
The spraying of furniture and steam disinfestation of bedding is
carried out by the staff of the Public Health Department, and HCN
fumigation of furniture is carried out by a contractor. An inventory
of furniture is made in all cases where HCN fumigation is necessary,
so that the number and capacity of the vans required can be ascertained.
Two horse-drawn vans are owned by the Council and retained for the
sole purpose of furniture fumigation by HCN, and when additional vans
are required these are hired from a contractor.