A total of 349 homes in Lautoka have been equipped with termite baiting stations as part of efforts to eliminate termite colonies.

Flick Hygiene Limited, which has been tasked with installing the bait stations, is now awaiting a list of an additional 226 homes selected for the program.

Director David Chand says in total 1,000 households will receive above-ground baiting systems.

Chand says the baiting installation team is making four visits per home.

“As you can see, as far as the names and addresses have been supplied, a lot of the areas have had 100% done. There are a few that we are still doing the installation, so that should be completed in the next two to three weeks in terms of the first installation.”

Chand explains that some termite-infested properties are undergoing various stages of renovation, with four percent identified as having undergone major works.

“We do the inspection first of the homes. Then we do the installation. We educate the tenants of the house on what to do, then we do a second visit, which is done every two weeks. Then you do a third visit, as you can see in the video, 100% bait consumption.”

Flick Hygiene Executive Director Mohammed Zakariah says the product brought in for baiting is effective, as they aim to resolve the problem permanently.

“The Fiji termites are actually loving the baits which we are using right now. And this baiting system, the Exterminex baiting which we introduced, we make sure that it goes through before we bring a product into the Fiji market, it goes through a number of research. Exterminex products have been identified as one of the leading around the world.

Termite Taskforce Chair Sashi Kiran says squatter communities have been excluded from government assistance due to their illegal status, but a new baiting program has been approved to address termite infestations nationwide.

“In the entire western division in the four years past, we’ve had 5,343 reporting. And majority of that reporting, 2,466 came in 2024 when the whole program was launched. And if you look at the northern division, we’ve had only about 1,200 reports and in Suva about 140 reporting.”

Kiran is urging those with termite infestations, especially households earning below $30,000, are encouraged to report them to the Biosecurity Authority of Fiji.