The Headmaster of Adisadel College in Cape Coast, William Kusi Yeboah has refuted media speculations that the school had been invaded by bed bugs and that school authorities were finding it difficult managing the situation.
He said the issue of bed bugs was an age old canker that faced most second cycle institutions in the country and that the authorities paid for the school to be fumigated every term.
“There is nothing like bed bugs taking control of Adisadel college, No, we do fumigation every term at a cost of over GHC 10,000,” he stated.
Mr. Kusi-Yeboah made this known on the sidelines of a three-day fumigation exercise at the school being undertaken by Zoomlion Ghana limited.
He said the exercise cost GHC 15,000 and that the school contracted Zoomlion because unlike other companies contracted in the past, Zoomlion was more scientific and experienced in dealing with such situations.
According to him, the health of the students was paramount and therefore asked the government to liaise with ZoomLion to fumigate all Senior High Schools in the country at a cost to government since the schools cannot sustain the fumigation due to the huge cost involved.
Mr. Kusi-Yeboah called on the government to replace all the wooden beds in secondary schools with steel beds since the most comfortable habitat of bed bugs was in wood.
He said there was no medical report to back claims that some Adisco students had been bitten by bed bugs, even though, he acknowledged the fact that parasites could cause some form of medical condition.
The Environment and Sanitation head at Zoomlion, Gideon Sogbey, said the insects breed at a very fast rate and impossible to be killed by ordinary chemicals and advised school authorities to contract the appropriate companies to help in dealing with the situation.
He indicated that many second cycle schools in Cape Coast and its environs had been infected with the insects and that Mfantsipim had approached them for a similar exercise.
He lamented bitterly about how the dormitories in Senior High Schools are overcrowded, adding that, their rooms were hot aside the bedbugs, and advised the students to practice good hygiene at all times.