Swarm of flies plagues Jasin's Simpang Bekoh, crippling businesses and daily life

JASIN – More than 1,000 residents and traders around Simpang Bekoh have been plagued by a fly infestation for the past four years.

The situation has worsened in the past four weeks, severely disrupting their daily routines.

Kamarul Zaman shows the flies after using a lemongrass fly spray.

The large presence of flies is believed to originate from a nearby poultry farm, causing significant inconvenience, especially to food vendors.

Food stall operator Kamarul Zaman Ahmad, 60, said the fly issue had existed before, but it had never been this bad, to the point where his income had dropped by about 30 per cent.

He feared that if the problem persisted, he might have to temporarily close his shop until the fly issue was resolved.

“Some customers get out of their cars, but after seeing the swarm of flies, they change their minds and decide not to eat here, as if my shop is dirty.

“But if I close, many things need to be considered, including staff wages and the shop’s reputation," he said.

Another Simpang Bekoh Food Court vendor, Aliza Alias, 40, shared similar concerns, saying some customers had scolded her and hurled insults for continuing to operate in an environment filled with flies.

She clarified that even though tables and floors were regularly cleaned with disinfectant, the measure did little to stop flies from landing on food containers, even when they were tightly sealed.

“Flies usually appear from time to time only, but this time it’s the worst. They’re everywhere, buzzing loudly like a hornet’s nest.

Some customers had scolded restaurant operators and hurled insults for continuing to operate in an environment filled with flies.

“We’ve done our part to keep things clean. This problem didn’t originate from our stalls, but is believed to be due to chicken farming activities that are disrupting our livelihoods," she said.

Vendor Nur Azzar Atan, 34, said she had to spend extra money on candles, disinfectants and fly traps.

She also suffered losses as she often had to replace food or drinks that had already been served but were contaminated by flies.

“Not only are we losing customers, but we also have to bear extra costs, even though the problem isn’t caused by us. I hope the authorities will carry out fly control fogging more frequently,” she said.

Resident R. Sekaran, 59, who lives in Pondok Batang with his son, also expressed his frustration, saying the fly problem affected both their home and when dining outside.

“There are flies at home and at food stalls too. It’s really uncomfortable to eat,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Kampung Simpang Bekoh Development and Security Committee (JPKK) chairman, Roslan Mahpol and village head Abdul Latif Arshad urged the authorities to find a more effective mechanism to address the issue.

According to them, the problem is believed to stem from chicken coop cleaning activities at 10 poultry farms in the area, which has caused flies to migrate into residential and business premises.

“We’re worried that if this problem continues, it will affect the residents’ economy or worse, tarnish Melaka’s image as a tourism state,” they said.