Residents and tourists in the Armação de Pêra area can now rest assured after an announcement by Silves Mayor confirmed that the plague of mosquitoes that has been pestering the population is finally under control. The president, Rogério Pinto, told Lusa news agency that the municipal authority and the health and environmental authorities did everything they could to avoid the spread of the plague and exterminate the mosquitoes by acting in a concerted manner.
He explained that the problem was caused by a rise in the water levels of the Alcantarilha stream, which normally flows into the sea in Armação de Pêra, but is now closed off in ordernot to affect the quality of the bathing waters of local beaches during the summer season.
Pinto added that insecticides are normally applied to the areas where mosquitoes are likely to hatch, but the authorities did not foresee the quantity of water that entered the lake, and which the Portuguese Environmental Agency (APA) had already explained was due to a ruptured irrigation pipe.
As a result, the stream overflowed and created pools of stagnant water.
Pinto guaranteed that, due to a number of measures, such as the hiring of a specialised company to conduct disinfestations or the deployment of a helicopter to destroy eggs and nests, the plague has seen its end.
“At the moment, it is a bit strange to be speaking of the mosquitoes because there are no more mosquitoes in Armação de Pêra,” he said.
