Ritika Pratap 
Residents whose homes have been infested by Asian Subterranean Termites, especially those in Lautoka and Labasa, are being urged to install baiting stations.
Assistant Minister for Women and Termite Taskforce Chair Sashi Kiran says that while the baiting stations are provided free to households with a total combined income of below $30,000, this should not deter others from participating in the initiative to eliminate termite colonies.
Kiran says the taskforce has found that the mass baiting initiative is proving successful.
She also says that households in termite infested areas must take responsibility.
“Bait your homes, bait your properties and try and protect your properties from reducing value. Wherever there is a problem throughout the world, this AST, the family or the homeowners try and bait annually because it could come in.”
She says the taskforce is working closely with the Biosecurity Authority of Fiji to strengthen the termite control program with regular data updates.
“So we are asking, we’ve seen in places like Lautoka, we have warehouses or we’ve seen vacant spaces where companies have dumped their pellets. We are asking those companies to remove those pellets and destroy those pellets because those pellets are hosting those AST and then it’s been carried or it’s, you know, in other places where the pellets may go.”
Under the current program a total of 1,000 households in Lautoka will receive above-ground baiting systems.
