Case closed on Richards Bay court infestation
Maggots in courthouse building came from dead cat
A DEAD cat in the ceiling appears to have been the main source of infestation at the Richards Bay Regional Court, where swift action was implemented last week to address health problems.
In a statement issued on Friday by Mthunzi Mhaga, spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice and Correctional Services, he said maggots had first been noticed three weeks ago.
Arrangements were made with the landlord that a service provider will be sent to the premises, which were fumigated on the 8th and 10th of October.
However, a few more maggots were found on the 11th and the service provider was then advised to look into the ceiling and find the source.
‘The service provider went into the ceiling and discovered that owing to the recent heavy rains, cats had sought shelter in the ceiling,’ said Mhaga.
‘After removing the cats the service provider also found a dead cat that was removed and disposed of.’
The ceiling was fumigated but on Friday, 20 October a cleaner noticed fleas and reported this to the supervisor.
The service provider was again sent to fumigate the building last Monday.
‘On the same day a meeting with the landlord, service provider and internal stakeholders mapped the way forward in respect of addressing the challenge, that the ceiling be stripped in order to get to the bottom of the problem.
‘The landlord asked for two days, up to Wednesday 25th to get the building ready for use,’ said Mhaga.
‘They stripped the whole ceiling at Regional court and District court, removed the Aerolite between the two layers of the ceiling, and sprayed the ceilings.
‘On the top ceiling there were missing boards, which were then replaced.
‘It is through these missing boards that the feral cats were accessing the ceiling.
‘The landlord proceeded to fumigate the entire building and ceilings and completed the fumigation at about 9pm on Wednesday.
‘We can safely say the building is now safe and accessible for the type of operations we are doing.’
However, Mhaga said a professional team (Health & Safety) from Department of Public Works, Department of
Justice, and Department of Health would be on site on Friday to confirm that indeed the building is ready for use.
ALSO READ: Making a case for new Richards Bay court
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