A centipede photographed at a home in Portmore, St Catherine, earlier this week. - Contributed

Mosquitoes. Rodents. Centipedes. Just about every creepy-crawly imaginable has been causing untold annoyance to residents of Portmore, St Catherine.

Norma Clarke, secretary of the Caymanas Gardens Citizens' Association, said centipedes have been invading homes, especially during cold weather.

"They are mostly in the bathrooms and when it rains you see them crawling under the door," said Clarke. "It is of major concern because we don't know the danger of these insects and there are children in most homes here."

appeal to municipal authorities

Ricardo Higgins, an Edgewater resident, is beseeching municipal authorities to intervene.

"I would like for the authority to assist with this situation. We can't be living with centipedes as part of our families; and the mosquitoes are equally hazardous," Higgins declared.

One resident, who only gave her name as Carlene, said she was tired of living living in fear of rats and centipedes.

"I can take this no more. This is not a healthy lifestyle and something must be done about it. I am paying tax, so I must can get some justification out of it," Carlene told The Gleaner.

However, Portmore Mayor Keith Hinds sought to play down the claims, saying that centipedes and rats were pest-control problems endemic to Caribbean environments.

"While there is no overrun of these pests, persons need to engage pest-control operators to deal with the situation," stated Hinds.

The Gleaner's newsroom has, in recent weeks, received a barrage of complaints about mosquito infestation in the mainly dormitory community.

fogging operations

Hinds said the Portmore Municipal Council has spent millions of dollars to get equipment for the public-health department to carry out fogging operations but has failed to destroy the breeding grounds.

"We have started cleaning the drains, which are the main breeding area for the insects, but there are some major drains that we have not started because of a lack of funds," he told The Gleaner.

Hinds said that drain cleaning would cost approximately $40 million.

A health inspector at the St Catherine Health Department, who requested anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the press, said pest infestation in Portmore could lead to serious health problems.

The official said that precautions should be taken because isolated incidents of malaria have been reported in Jamaica. The inspector also warned that centipedes could cause tetanus infections.

He further stated that a team from the health department fogged a number of communities in Portmore weekly, but those operations could not be increased because of potential health risks to residents.

"Although we want to rid the area of the insects, we can't b****ard the air with chemicals as this will affect some persons' breathing," the health inspector said.