AT LEAST 33 poultry and piggery owners were requested to meet city health officials for a consultative meeting on January 16 at the city hall to come up with mitigating measures on fly infestation attributed to their business operations that has earned ire from nearby residents.
Davao City Council committee on health chair Councilor Mary Joselle Dilig-Villafuerte was appalled with the alarming existence of fly infestation that has been pestering nine villages in Calinan District and five villages in Tugbok district because of failure to comply with the sanitary requirements.
According to Villafuerte, after she personally experienced it herself, since it was not an isolated case but a normal experience of many villages in Calinan and Tugbok she raised it to the CHO and wrote a letter on January 5.
As a response, the City Health Office (CHO) identified the poultry and piggery farms and called on their attention to address the woes of the residents near the area on the swarm of flies.
"I hope in this meeting we can remind our business owners of their responsibility to the community as we are aware a business must take care of mitigation in their work area and the community," the health chief said.
She hopes that after the meeting people will no longer be afraid nor dread the harvest time for these farms.
"We hope the owners and managers to strive to comply the requirements of the City Health Office sanitary department," she said.
She noted the health risk of fly infestation as it become a perfect breeding site for flies which poses a threat considering its adverse implication since it is a major carriers of disease and can infest all types of premises that may cause diarrhea, skin diseases, and conjunctivitis or eye infection.
“I have experience it personally and we will not wait to have a diseases outbreak,” she said.
Villafuerte underscored that most of the owners of these establishments have no mitigating measures and operation permit despite that presence of natural and chemical way to control the odor of their poultry.
“These companies will be guided by our city health office so hopefully angating community will not be afraid during harvest time,” she said.
Although there are policies that were broken, Villafurte said that they will not recommend for the closure of these establishments because they provide the much needed employment and help in assuring food security in Davao City.
“We did not wish to wait for a disease outbreak your honor plus we have three major tourism events this month, the visit of Prime Minister Shinz? Abe of Japan, Asean forum and Miss Universe pageant,” she said.