SINGAPORE — Popular food haunts Joo Chiat, Jalan Besar and Arab Street are among the new areas that will come under the scrutiny of the National Environment Agency’s (NEA) Rat Attack Programme.

The NEA called a tender on Nov 21 for year-long rodent surveillance and control services in 12 areas around Singapore, including Chinatown, Orchard Road and Little India which are known to be popular with tourists.

The tender specified two phases of services: Eradicating rodents and then implementing preventive measures to ensure the areas are free from rodent activities in the “drains, pavements, walkways and linkways which are abutting the defined areas and accessible to the public”. The company awarded the tender is also required to ensure a 90 per cent reduction in rodent activity or less than five burrows, whichever is more significant.

A check by TODAY at Arab Street and Chinatown found about 20 business operators saying that rats are a common sight, especially in drains along alleyways behind food establishments.

Mr Paul Steven, 48, a salesman at a fabric shop along Arab Street, frequently spots rats scurrying along the pavements and in open drains, especially during the early mornings. “They can get quite big. Sometimes, the rats also get killed and are left there for a few days, so it can smell quite bad,” he added.

Over at Chinatown, rats have also been a perennial problem and business operators have set up their own traps as a precautionary measure.

“The rat problem was a lot worse last year, they would chew our goods or knock things off shelves at night. Now it’s better, you only notice more of them scurrying about during rainy days,” said salesman Patrick Lim, 41.

In response to queries, an NEA spokesperson said: “This tender is called for the continuation of the (Rat Attack) programme, which includes an extension into new public areas such as Joo Chiat, Jalan Besar and Arab Street.”

The Rat Attack programme is conducted in selected public areas with many food-retail establishments, high human traffic and frequent rodent sightings. Introduced in August 2011, it comprises surveillance, control, stakeholder engagement, law enforcement and research. The programme has led to a 93 per cent reduction in the number of rat burrows in public places — from 348 at the start of last year to fewer than 20 as of October, the NEA said.

Meanwhile, the number of burrows found in Housing and Development Board estates has also fallen, with 4,397 burrows detected as of August/September — almost half of the 7,277 recorded when numbers peaked in December/January last year.

The rat problem has been in the spotlight, with reports of rodent infestation in areas such as Ang Mo Kio and Tiong Bahru.

On Friday, a tenant at Peninsula Shopping Centre told TODAY he caught a rat the size of his palm. Tenants interviewed said the problem seemed to have worsened over the past two months. One of them, Mr Tom Kalwani, 61, said rats can be heard running across the ceiling at all times of the day, before adding that business has taken a hit because customers get frightened away. “This causes a public health and safety hazard … We are losing money as the rats have urinated on our goods and are chewing on wires and wood.”