Community draws together to control rats in Honolulu's Chinatown

Rats are nothing new to Honolulu's Chinatown, as pest control technicians will attest. Old buildings, close proximity to a river, and lots of restaurants and fresh produce markets provide an ideal environment for rats.

But the problem was thrust into the spotlight in late fall when a video, shot after hours by a community activist/blogger, appeared on the internet, showing rats scurrying over produce and leaping in and out of baskets of fruit at an open-air food stall in one of Chinatown's many marketplaces.

With outcries from the media and public, the state's Health Department sent in an inspector who issued several citations related to rodents. To avoid fines of $1,000 a day, the store owner cleaned up the premises and put unsold food in rat-proof containers.

But that was not the end of the story. The much publicized video went well beyond a single store's violation of health codes. With city vector control services reduced, the incident forced a closer examination of how organizations must find their own solution to problems, even larger public health issues, when city and state budgets are slashed.

Budget constraints, for example, cut the number of sanitation inspectors from more than 20 down to nine, reducing inspection of Oahu's 5,5000 restaurants and food establishments to once every 2 1/2 to 3 years. And,in January. 38 of the 53 staff members in the Health Department's Vector Control Branch, which helps homeowners and businesses with rodents and insect problems, were laid off.

Merchants Learn from Private Pest Controllers
So, while Health Department officials admonished merchants to monitor themselves and advised consumers to wash fresh food before consuming it, store vendors in Chinatown scrambled to regain lost customers and restore their trust.

Working together in late December, the Chinese Chamber of Commerce and the Health Department put on a workshop to educate vendors in the market about food safety and rodent control. Because of time conflicts (the workshop was at 4:30 p.m. to avoid paying overtime but the market closes at 6 p.m.), the session drew only a couple of participants. But, that was all Andy Nowinski, president of Tropical Termite and Pest Control in Honolulu, needed to hear to step to the plate.

Nowinski, who's worked in Chinatown, called Tim Lyons, executive director of the Hawaii Pest Control Association, inquiring about ways the industry could help. Lyons called the Health Department and eventually reached the right person who accepted Nowinski's offer to teach a second class to shop vendors. But this time the class would be at 6 p.m. when vendors were free.

As preparation, Nowinski went to the market and talked to one of the English-speaking shopkeepers to show him what's good to do and what's not good to trap rats. "Word got out," Nowinski said. "He called all the other vendors and said, ‘This guy will teach you to have a better understanding.'"

About 45 shop owners and their representatives showed up for the second training class. Nowinski has been in pest control since 1968, and covered the basics of rodent identification and behavior before launching into control techniques, including how to properly place traps. Another Honolulu pest control company, Xtermco, donated 150 glue traps. Most vendors were using snap or glue traps but not nearly enough nor in the right places, Nowinski feels.

"The vendors are wide open to suggestions and are enthusiastic," Nowinski noted. So enthusiastic that the Chinese Chamber of Commerce plans to expand classes with Nowinski for other Chinatown merchants.

Sewer baiting with CONTRAC BLOX
Nowinski also contacted his Univar rep, Kurt Nosal, who secured 80 lbs. of Bell's CONTRAC Super-Size BLOX from Bell representative, Jeremy Davis, to bait sewers in the affected market area.

Nowinski has been acting as a volunteer consultant in the market clean-up and is a strong believer in sewer baiting. He met in late January with the market's property management group and private pest control company to begin sewer baiting. "Rats won't come up for vegetables, if they have Blox to eat in the sewers," he said.

In the meantime, Honolulu's Department of Sewer Maintenance is also implementing a broader sewer baiting program and a senior city vector control employee is now assigned to the Chinatown problem.
"Everyone is taking a pro-active role. No one is making excuses," Nowinski stressed. "It's everybody's problem. Everyone is doing something."

As for the result, he's optimistic with a realistic note of caution. "If we can step up the trapping, we can control rats in three months. Otherwise, with band-aids it will continue. This didn't happen overnight but we're finally doing something."