Outdoor seating area in Ang Mo Kio allegedly infested with bedbugs, Town Council says they’re cockroaches

Man claims to have seen bedbugs in outdoor seating area of Ang Mo Kio Central

Insects that were seen nestled in an outdoor seating area in Ang Mo Kio Central were identified as bedbugs, but Ang Mo Kio Town Council (AMKTC) has said they were actually cockroaches.

A video of the alleged infestation was posted on the Complaint Singapore Facebook page, where it has since gained more than 900 reactions and 110,000 views.

Insects seen crawling inside crevice of a bench

In the post, captioned “Severe bedbug infestation at sitting area outside AMK Hub”, the original poster (OP) said the spot was near the McDonald’s outlet.

The video showed a number of insects inside a crevice between the wooden slats of the bench.

Some of the insects appeared to be motionless, while others were moving around.

The recording did not depict anybody sitting on or around the bench.

Man allegedly bitten by bedbugs in Ang Mo Kio bench

The OP, Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) regular Iezekiel Yeo, told MS News said that he had been sitting on the bench at about 11pm on Sunday (29 March).

After sitting for about two to three minutes, he realised that his “butt was getting itchy” and he felt himself getting bitten.

He thus decided to check the area with his phone camera.

Man says he’s ‘100% sure’ they were bedbugs

Mr Yeo explained that he had suspected the bites were due to bedbugs due to previous experiences with bedbugs as an SCDF regular.

As he has been to plenty of homes with bedbug infestations and got bitten multiple times, he claimed to be “100% sure” that the insects were bedbugs, adding:

My butt got bitten so many times, and these bites are itchy and painful.

He was also worried about the old people that he saw sitting down and lying down in the area.

Netizens mostly concerned over the insects

Most netizens appeared to be concerned over the matter, pointing out that those sitting in the area might inadvertently bring the pests back to their homes.

However, other netizens pointed out that the “bedbugs” could have been cockroaches instead.

One netizen also requested Mr Yeo report the matter to AMKTC or through the OneService app.

Pest control treatment in progress

In a comment on Mr Yeo’s post, AMKTC said treatment by its pest control team was currently in progress.

Responding to queries from MS News, an AMKTC spokesperson said that their property team had conducted checks with its pest control operator.

They then confirmed that the insects observed were cockroaches, not bedbugs.

Treatment was currently ongoing, and AMKTC will continue to closely monitor the area to “maintain a clean and comfortable environment for residents and visitors”, the spokesperson noted, adding:

We also encourage members of the public and users of the seating area to dispose food and rubbish into covered bins to help prevent pest proliferation.

Also read: Bedbugs from AMK HDB home invade 7 units, residents spend hundreds on insecticides

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Featured image adapted from Iezekiel Yeo via Complaint Singapore on Facebook.