Source: Shin Min Daily News
The residents of brand-new BTO HDB blocks in Punggol are reportedly experiencing a particular pest problem — that of millipedes.
According to Shin Min Daily News, a resident at Block 446B in Punggol Way pointed to a sky garden as the origin of the issue. The 10th-floor garden connected four HDB blocks.
A resident, Mr Zheng (transliterated), moved in two months ago and claimed that millipedes infested the corridors almost daily.
The smaller kind measured about one to two centimetres long while the bigger ones could be double their sizes.
Source: Shin Min Daily News
The staff in charge of the garden reportedly explained that the millipedes were attracted to the new type of soil used in the sky garden.
The bugs would stay in the soil when the weather was too hot but would emerge in great numbers during cooler times of the day.
Mr Zheng even alleged that two millipedes had previously crawled into his home.
The 68-year-old bought pesticides, which he sprayed in front of his door every morning. He also washed the corridors on weekends, yet the pest problem persisted.
Source: Shin Min Daily News
34-year-old resident Ms Huang said the millipedes would also appear in her unit and her toilet daily.
Some residents, however, did not consider the situation an issue, saying it was only natural for insects and other arthropods to be present near a sky garden.
One of them said he just swept any millipedes he saw out of his home.
Shin Min reported that each floor of the four HDB blocks had millipedes in the stairwell.
Source: Shin Min Daily News
The journalist also observed that the units on the 10th floor closest to the sky garden all had pesticide, with the carcasses of dead millipedes found in the corridor gutter.
A resident said the authorities would send personnel to perform pest control every Saturday morning. They would also clean the corridors after spraying them with pesticides.
An insect expert interviewed by Shin Min stated that the fertiliser used in gardens of new HDB flats likely attracted the millipedes.
Millipedes are also harmless to humans.
Also read: Residents in Buangkok HDB blocks plagued by swarms of bees, hive found on rooftop
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Featured image adapted from Shin Min Daily News.
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