These past few years have been the worst for flies. Have you noticed the many, many uncovered garbage cans with raw food in them? The flies are milling about in the thousands. Why aren't there any chained covers for these containers? Surely, there is a fly deterrent, a repellent that one can put into the existing plastic bag, where the odor will repel the flies? It is not pleasant to sit on a windless day at a bus stop or in Kapiolani Park with flies crawling all over you. Are we going to have an epidemic soon, if something is not done? Profusion of flies unlikely
to cause disease outbreakThere's no danger of an epidemic, according to George Kitaguchi, acting program manager for the state Health Department's Vector Control Branch.
But it is a "localized problem," the cause of which you hit right on the garbage can.
"The key is to keep the flies from getting into the garbage," Kitaguchi said. At home, people just tend to dump leftovers in the trash. Vector control recommends using the garbage disposal if at all possible, minimizing the risk of garbage being exposed, either by just being left in open containers, or in bags torn open by animals.
In public places, garbage is generally picked up daily, but in only a day's accumulation of dumped food, flies can lay eggs that will hatch within hours.
Flies don't live long, but their reproductive span is "tremendous," Kitaguchi said. "It's like nonstop production."
As for trash cans, the problem is that people vandalize the lids, using them as oversized Frisbees or other implements for games, said Patti Nagao, spokeswoman for the city Parks Department.
The department discontinued using the lids because it was "not cost effective." Instead, workers, especially in popular areas such as Kapiolani Park, make sure the lined trash containers are emptied at least once, and sometimes, twice a day, Nagao said. Besides the type of flies attracted to garbage, another common fly in Hawaii is the dog dung fly, which breeds in you-know-what.
Owners should pick up after their pets as soon as possible. Kitaguchi said fights between neighbors over dog droppings are among the nastiest that vector control inspectors encounter.
On Oahu, old handicapped parking permits, placed on dashboards, do have photo IDs on the back, acknowledged Francine Wai, executive director of the state Commission on Persons with Disabilities. These are being replaced by hanging placards as they expire. Police wanted photos on the front of the placards, but this was rejected for privacy and safety reasons, as well as to meet new federal design standards, Wai said. Clarification:
- Auwe
