AN integrated pest management is essential to fortify buildings and luxury apartments, hotels and palaces against insect pests, with regular treatment of the premises by professional pest control managers becoming a necessity.

“In fact today, the degree of freedom from pests in the home is a measure of the standard of living enjoyed by the household,” says Dr Natalio Mercado of Masa Establishment for Pest Extermination, Maintenance and Contracting. “The highest standards of living are enjoyed when pests of any description – and the problems associated with them – are not allowed to intrude into the premises of hotels, palaces, and villas.”

Tackling the challenges involved in effective pest control calls for not only the services of skilled pest management professionals but also the right public attitude and concerns, says Dr Mercado, who is a company entomologist at the research and development department of Masa.

“While the initiatives usually involve the use of pesticides, an increasing number of pest management professionals are now turning to integrated pest management as a control device,” he says. “The use of non-chemical and chemical preparations and removal of food, water and shelter of pests has a significant impact on controlling pest populations. When integrated with appropriate chemical control measures, a lasting level of control is made possible.”

Insects, rodents and birds are the major pests within hotels, palaces and luxury villas, where health, welfare, comfort, property and aesthetics are paramount. “The hospitality sector needs to be always on guard against infestation due to the high turnover of guests and the ease with which these pests multiply. In the struggle against nuisance pests, people must use their knowledge of pest identification, classification, growth, development, behaviour and pest management to adequately fight the menace,” he says.

Masa utilises an integrated system of preventive and corrective measures, which prevents pests from being a significant problem.

Elaborating on the procedure involved in ensuring effective treatment, he says: “Any type of pest management system should aim to achieve its objectives at the lowest possible cost with minimum risk to customers and the environments.
“Each pest management job must be analysed separately and should involve the basic steps of inspection, identification, recommendation, treatment and evaluation. During inspection, the professional should discuss with the customer and examine the harborage areas of pests, conditions of moisture, heat or darkness that favour infestation. Once the pest is detected, the pest management must positively identify it in order to put forth recommendations for eliminating the pest problem and the application of pest management procedures.

“The customer must also be advised on matters of sanitation and how to prevent new pest problems or in case of recurrence, how it should be tackled before it gets beyond control. Constant monitoring and evaluation is essential in determining pest recurrence or avoiding conditions conducive to it, and the pest management procedures should be modified or reapplied, as necessary.”

Masa Establishment, a premier Saudi-based pest management expert, implements a programme that demonstrates its high level of commitment and its quality services that are environmentally, socially, and economically acceptable to the client and that meet current public expectations, Dr Mercado concludes.