Accra, Oct. 16, GNA - A pilot project with a twin objective of ridding the country of mosquitoes and enhancing the La area for tourism activities started on Friday at the Kpeshie Lagoon area in Accra. The project dubbed "Mosquito Control project", would be extended to other parts of the country when successful.

Two new insecticide products from Cuba for the control of mosquitoes introduced by the Ministries of Tourism and Modernization of the Capital City and Science and Environment have been selected for the project.

The products, Bactivec and Griselesf, act on the mosquito larvae preventing them from growing into full mosquitoes.

The project is being implemented by Sunrise International Limited, a Ghanaian company.

Mr Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, Minister of Tourism and Modernisation of the Capital City, at the demonstration site said the Ministry was waiting to see how effective the products were to enable the extension of the project to other areas, saying: "The Sweetness of the pudding lies in the eating".

The Minister said his Ministry in collaboration with the Ministry of Science and Environment would put up a monitoring mechanism to measure the effectiveness of the product.

He said mosquitoes had a very negative effect on tourism, as visitors were unable to sit outside and relax outside their hotel rooms. Dr Alfredo Vera Estrada, an expert from Cuba said the spraying would be done for four weeks continuously and after which there would be a three-month break before the exercise would resume.

He noted that the products had been successful in Cuba, saying: "Now there are no mosquitoes in Cuba and the Tourism industry is booming."