The Macau Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) has outlined the “effectiveness” of its rodent control efforts and the measures in place.
The bureau elaborated on the efforts in its formal reply to a written interpellation raised by directly-elected lawmaker-cum-unionist Ella Lei Cheng I.
The bureau replied on April 29 to Lei’s written interpellation she had submitted on April 4 about the government’s rodent control and monitoring measures. The reply was released by Lei’s office to the media yesterday.
The reply was signed by the bureau’s acting president, Mak Kim Meng, who has worked as a civil service for 30 years and is retiring this month.
In its reply, the bureau said that Macau has been divided into 25 rodent control zones, each subject to intensive rat control operations, no fewer than three times a year, with each operation lasting five weeks.
These operations focus on areas such as flowerbeds, green belts, riverbanks, and drainage outfalls, the reply said, adding that last year a total of 25,000 rat baiting points were deployed.
According to the reply, the number of fixed rat bait boxes on public streets has increased from about 1,000 in 2020 to around 1,500 currently, covering streets across all districts. In 2025, IAM workers eliminated 2,894 rats, accounting for 11.5 percent of the total number of rat baiting points set up at that time.
To scientifically evaluate the effectiveness of its operations, the bureau said that it has commissioned third-party academic institutions to conduct sample surveys on rodent infestation in public places since 2019, in accordance with national standards and survey methods.
The bureau said that the results in recent years indicate that rodent infestation in public places has generally been maintained at a reasonably “well-controlled level.”
The bureau noted that ageing building facilities, accumulated clutter, improper waste disposal and food remnants left from feeding animals are all factors that can easily lead to rodent infestations.
The reply said that IAM has already introduced electronic management for inspections of rat bait boxes on public streets, using an information system to record inspection data, thereby providing a scientific basis for analysing rodent activity patterns in different districts.
In areas where rodent activity is high, the bureau will, based on inspection data, implement targeted prevention and control measures, the reply said, adding that it will also continue to monitor rodent control practices in other regions and, at an appropriate time, consider introducing new technologies, methods and equipment.
In the reply, the Municipal Affairs Bureau also emphasised that it consistently adheres to the principle of “prevention first, elimination second” in rodent control.
The bureau will continue to raise public awareness of rodent prevention and control through initiatives such as the “City cleanup campaign”, community outreach, thematic exhibitions, rodent control information booths and sanitation inspections of low-rise buildings, the reply said, adding that, at the same time, the bureau is holding rodent prevention workshops and specialised training sessions for the property management, cleaning, catering, and construction industries, and also has developed rodent prevention guidelines, with the aim of strengthening these sectors’ primary responsibility and practical capabilities in this area.
Vacant land in Taipa becomes a rat den
Meanwhile, a report by the Macao Daily News yesterday indicated that several parcels of idle government land near the Nova Grand building in Taipa are heavily overgrown with weeds and littered with rubbish, leading to a serious rodent problem, with rats entering nearby residential buildings and schools, affecting residents’ daily lives and public health safety.
The Municipal Affairs Bureau has placed rat bait boxes as a follow-up measure, but residents feel that this only treats the symptoms, failing to tackle the root cause.
Macao Daily News’ reporters interviewed Lam Ka Chun, vice president of the Associação Promotora para o Desenvolvimento da Comunidade da Taipa (“Taipa Community Development Promotion Association”), who has suggested that the authorities convert the relevant sites into temporary sports grounds as soon as possible, in order to eliminate the rodent problem at its source while also increasing recreational space in the district.
This undated file photo provided by directly-elected lawmaker-cum-unionist Ella Lei Cheng I yesterday shows her speaking in the Legislative Assembly’s (AL) hemicycle.
