"(The pests) was still there until yesterday. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to directly inspect the location where the migratory locust attacked," said Deputy Head of Lembata District Marthen Christian Taka, when contacted here on Monday.
He was referring to a migratory locust attack in Tema and Pada villages in East Wewewa sub-district, Southwest Sumba district since last Tuesday.
The local government has sprayed pesticides to rid the areas of locusts, Taka said.
Besides officers from the agricultural service, locals from villages attacked by the locusts have also sprayed pesticides, he added.
The district government will continue to try to eradicate the pests so that they do not plague more villages in the district, he assured.
"We are determined to eradicate this locust pest. We don't want this pest attack to spread to other villages in this district," Taka said, adding that so far, locusts have attacked areas with fairly rough terrain.
Meanwhile, head of the Southwest Sumba District Agriculture Office, Rofinus Kaleka, said that thanks to the cooperation between the government and the community, the locusts had slowly started to recede from the two villages.
"However, yesterday, we still saw that there were still pests in the two villages. We will do our best to eradicate these pests," he added.
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Translator: Kornelis Kaha, Katriana
Editor: Sri Haryati
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