Bulk garbage not cause of Kelligrews rats: Ken McDonald

The mayor of Conception Bay South says a pile of bulk garbage items wasn't responsible for arat problem, after a Kelligrews man alleged his neighbours' trash was attracting rodents to his property.

Last week, CBC News reported on a story about an apparent rat problem in the town; Glenn Simpson alleged a rat problem in the area stemmed from a number of factors, including a pile of bulk garbage put outside by a neighbour.

However, Deanna King said the issue was not the bulk garbage she put out for pickup, but other things in the neighbourhood.

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Mayor Ken McDonald said town officials who went to the site saidthere isn't a rat problem in the area, and the nature of the pile of bulk items wouldn't have attracted rats.

"[Town workers] did initiate an investigation and went up and looked at the area, and I know Mr. Simpson refers to it as some garbage causing the problem but, I mean, the enforcement people went up and the garbage that was placed near his property was more of a bulk-type nature, it wasn't an organic garbage that you think would attract rodents," said McDonald.

He said town workers picked up the bulk items ahead of schedule.

"Afterwards I did contact town officials to see exactly what was going on and what had taken place. They did tell me that Mr. Simpson had made a complaint of an exorbitant amount of rats," said McDonald.

He said the town wasn't given enough time to help deal with the issue, and officials tried to get in touch with Simpsonthe day before CBC airedthe story.

McDonald said the town would have asked a resident to clean up a mess if they thought their garbage was responsible for a rat problem.