Frequent rat sightings reported at Ubi Avenue 1, Giant says working with town council to implement 'sustainable action' after viral video

The Marine Parade Town Council said they were aware of the rat situation, and have engaged pest controllers to conduct regular inspections.

Seow Kai Lun
·Contributor
Updated ·4-min read
Spotting rats has become the norm at Block 306, Ubi Avenue 1. (Images: Google Street View, Getty Images)
Spotting rats has become the norm at Block 306, Ubi Avenue 1. (Images: Google Street View, Getty Images)

UPDATE (8 April): DFI Retail Group, which operates Giant supermarket outlets in Singapore, has said that it conducted thorough sanitation of the area where rats were seen in a video, and is working with the town council and pest control experts to implement a sustainable action plan.

SINGAPORE — Spotting rats has become the norm at Block 306 Ubi Avenue 1, with residents, shop owners and employees having reported seeing the rodents running amok, even in the supermarket located on the ground floor.

According to Shin Min Daily News, a woman, who only wanted to be known as Chen, said that the rat issue has been ongoing for awhile. Chen said that she often sees them crawling in the vicinity when she passes the supermarket at night.

She added that she had initially wanted to enroll her children in the nearby preschool, but decided against it as she was concerned about the hygiene levels of the area, given the frequent appearance of rats.

Chen said other residents have also seen rats on the supermarket shelves as recently as on 2 April at 1am and took videos of the incidents.

In one of the videos shared with Shin Min, rats were seen perched on top of a stack of instant noodles placed at the front of the supermarket for a few seconds, before they ran off into another shelf.

Another video showed two rodents underneath one of the supermarket’s trolley, with one eventually climbing up into it. A check on Google maps shows a Giant supermarket in the area.

A spokesperson for DFI Retail Group, which runs the Giant and Cold Storage supermarket chains, told Yahoo Southeast Asia that upon “being made aware of this specific issue”, its team “immediately conducted a thorough sanitation of the area in question”.

“Additionally, we have increased the frequency of our regular inspections and pest control protocols at all of our storefronts to ensure a consistently safe and clean environment for our customers,” the spokesperson added.

The group also said it is working closely with the town council and pest control experts to “implement a sustainable plan of action”. The spokesperson added long before the recent incident, its team was already actively implementing “stringent sanitisation and pest control measures” as part of its routine practices.

Rats, both alive and dead, spotted by other store operators

Store owners from the surrounding shops told the Chinese paper that it was common to see rats in the area, darting across the corridor in front of their shop.

A fruit seller, who only wanted to be known as Wei, told Shin Min the rat problem started in November last year, but became more serious this year.

“Every day, I will see seven to eight large rats passing by. Luckily, they didn’t come in [to my shop] and bite my fruits,” said the 40-year-old, who has been selling fruits in the neighbourhood for the last 10 years.

An employee in a nearby provision shop shared the same sentiments as Wei, and said that whenever he hears squeaking and looks out, there will be rats running by. He added a dead rat had also been found near the store previously.

Another employee shared that the rats would leave their droppings in front of the store, worsening the hygiene situation.

Town council has implemented rat control measures

The Marine Parade Town Council told Shin Min that they were aware that there were rats showing up frequently at Ubi Avenue 1, and have engaged pest controllers to conduct regular inspections.

Special attention has also been given to cleaning the bin centres, central refuse chutes and the surrounding areas to prevent breeding grounds from forming.

The town council said it would review the effectiveness of the control measures regularly with the pest controllers they are working with and make adjustments as needed.

The town council is also working with the National Environment Agency and waste management companies to improve waste disposal and reduce the number of food sources rats can get to.

Earlier this year, pest controllers shared they had received an increased number of complaints for rat sightings, citing reasons such as exposed food waste, improper trash disposal and Singapore’s hotter and wetter weather.

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