Meetings at district councils are fairly tedious affairs, but members of Yau Tsim Mong District Council had a jolly good time this week grilling Food and Environmental Hygiene Department officers about rodent infestations in their neighbourhoods. Members were intrigued when told that department staff managed to catch just two live rodents in Yau Ma Tei and Tsim Sha Tsui between March 27 and May 21. They did better in Mong Kok, having trapped 37 during the same period. One member boasted he could easily trap two live rats in his home's back alley on any night. Now that's not fair.
We all know that through the department's valiant efforts, the city's overall rodent population has been falling. It even has a rodent infestation rate, which is a kind of index, to prove it. The index rate has been dropping - from 16 per cent in 2000 to 2.9 per cent in 2006. Unfortunately, the figures only represent the general situation in the city, while it's obvious some districts fare much worse than others. Places like The Peak obviously bring the average down. But imagine an index rate just for Mong Kok. This is why restaurant operators and residents have been complaining that the situation in Yau Tsim Mong district has been getting worse.
District councillors were even more fascinated when told how department officers collect data for the index: essentially by counting the number of sweet potatoes - used as bait - that have been eaten or nibbled at over a specific period of time. But the council, not unreasonably, questioned this methodology. Sweet potatoes, they pointed out, don't hold a candle - as far as hungry rats are concerned - to food tossed out by barbecue meat shops, bars, restaurants and hotels in their neighbourhoods.