Rat infestation in Haymarket

Rats are running rampant in Sydney’s Haymarket area.

Even more alarmingly, these rats seem to have been given a free pass by the City of Sydney.

Dr Gráinne Cleary, a Research Associate at the School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences at The University of New South Wales, said the rat problem is getting worse.

“People don’t know how bad it is. It is getting worse as population increases,” said Dr Cleary.

Peter Pavlotes, who runs a fruit store in Paddy’s Markets, said “there’s a rat pandemic here.”

Well, not exactly, according to the City of Sydney. It’s all about where the rats are, not about their increasing numbers.

A Council spokesperson said their jurisdiction only covered rats in public places.

She said it fell on the shoulders of private owners to “maintain their properties and regular pest control,” with the council’s responsibility for rats ending at private boundaries.

However, the problem is bigger than just the increasing number of rats, with Dr Cleary warning that diseases carried by rats can be fatal to infants and adults.

She pointed to the latest funding by the Mosman Council for research into lungworms which recently claimed the life of two infants in Queensland.

She believed the disease is “sweeping down to Sydney,” and the problem ought to be taken more seriously.

Dr Cleary said more has to be done because the current methods of setting rat traps and rat poisonings, employed by the City of Sydney, kill only small numbers of rats and is “not a long term solution”.

However, the City of Sydney continues to ignore the free-range Haymarket rats.

Council declined to comment on whether it had abolished its rodent control division.

It also refused to respond to why bait stations on public streets are left derelict. A walk down Kimberley Road in Chinatown will reveal that seven out of eight rat traps are either left open or broken.

Con Kapello, the Environmental Manager of Paddy’s Markets urged the Council to take greater responsibility in dealing with the persisting rat problem.

“Rats infest not just the surface, but [also] below the surface,” he said.

It seems like the Council is passing the buck. Or, in this case, the rats.

By Bonnie Yiu