The Abu Dhabi Waste Management Center - Tadweer elevates the quality of life of the Abu Dhabi society by providing the residents of the Emirate a disease-free & comfortable environment. The cost free pest management services are provided through scheduled and unscheduled programs.

Scheduled services are designed to control all public health pests including disease vectors such as mosquitoes, rodent pests, ticks, American cockroaches (cockroaches found in sewer system) and flies. And these services are provided in regular frequency along with intensive monitoring system to instantly oversee the population of disease vectors. Thousands of scheduled services are carried out on monthly basis in Abu Dhabi targeting disease vectors habitats in all potential infestation areas including standing water accumulations, stormwater drainage manholes, sewer manholes, garbage drums, trees, public parks, animal barns, farms, slaughterhouses, governmental schools, governmental organisations, VIP villas and palaces, mosques and any other public properties in Abu Dhabi.

The work plans are systemized using the most advanced pest management software that organises the work orders and services in addition to collecting and analyzing data about provided services including crucial information such as pest infestation level, chemical consumption, time and location (GPS coordinates and maps).

Technology

Pest management software enabled Tadweer to have an instant and hands-on monitoring system that helps Tadweer to locate any possible future pest outbreaks and take the proper preventive actions needed to keep the pests’ populations under the threshold level. While the field data are filtered and analysed, Tadweer uses its pest management software system to build its prospective work plans.

Recently, Tadweer has been building a new monitoring system for mosquitoes in order to enhance the biosecurity of Abu Dhabi. The system uses a highly advanced electronic network that connects more than 850 monitoring units distributed among the emirate of Abu Dhabi as well as other emirates of UAE.

The system aims to provide instant and up-to-date data about mosquitoes’ activities and their population dynamic. The solarpowered monitoring units are able to attract and catch adult mosquitoes, count them, and then send their data immediately to the server. Once the data received, the server processes it and then displays the information in dashboard that presents the mosquitoes distribution and infestation level for that particular area.

The software is also used for data entry for all provided services, hiring technology into pest management operations. It has added great value to the pest’s management system in Abu Dhabi. Using smart solutions in pest control has helped Tadweer to boom up its quality standards and significantly increase the efficiency of its operations. Unscheduled services are provided in an irregular manner upon residents’ requests and it includes pest’s management services for all types of public health pests. In addition to disease vectors, unscheduled service is also designed to control dangerous pests such scorpions and snakes. Stray animal impounding is also included in the scope of unscheduled services and it encompasses the service of trapping, neutralizing and rehoming of stray cats, and for stray dogs(only trapping and neutering) as well as impounding of other large animals such as camels and cows.

Eco-Friendly Measures

Tadweer uses and implements the most advanced technologies and techniques in the public health pest control industry and always keen to use the least toxic and green pesticides that have high efficacy at the same time have the lowest impact on human health and environment. Recently Tadweer has adopted a new technology for using insecticidal painting in sewer manholes, this technology has helped Tadweer to significantly reduce the chemical usage in sewer manholes and prolong the efficacy of manhole treatments which the effectiveness of this insecticidal painting can last for three years.

Besides these, Tadweer has been using the most efficient non-chemical materials and methods such as using silicone gel film materials for controlling mosquitoes’ larvae in standing water, using botanical insecticides (derived from plant) and trapping methods that uses no chemicals emphasising on the appropriate implementation of integrated pest management approach that relies on reducing chemical use and focuses more on preventive measures rather than curative ones as well as ensure providing the most effective and safest pest management services. The key purpose of adopting integrated pest management approach is to reduce the impact of pesticides on human beings and environment, and suppress the health threats associated with public health pests.

Currently, there are more than 1200 personnel, 320 vehicles, and 1250 machines and equipment are in operation for Abu Dhabi to carry out public health pests control services with approximately 74 million dirhams yearly budget for pest management services in Abu Dhabi.

In many countries around the world, public health pests are considered a serious danger because of their ability to transmit epidemic diseases such as malaria, dengue fever, West Nile virus, cholera, typhus, zika virus, bubonic plague, and many others. Due to its outstanding efforts Tadweer has been able to control public health pests’ populations and maintain it under the threshold levels /target limits, as result public health pests have no longer been a serious issue in Abu Dhabi, and all kind of pest management services have been a preventive measures ensuring the disease-free and comfortable environment of Abu Dhabi.

(The Author, Eng. Mohamed Mahmood Al Marzouqi is the Pest Control Projects Director, Pest Control Projects Department, Tadweer)