An outbreak of flies in the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum is taking its toll on the professional and daily lives of locals in the area.

Unwanted swarms of flies have descended on several attractions in Kon Plong District, scaring away tourists and cutting into local business operations.

Nguyen Thi Cuc, a 68-year-old resident in the district’s Mang Canh Commune, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that her family begins each day by hanging 20 sheets of fly paper across their house to trap the irritating clouds of flies that have become endemic in the neighborhood.

“When it’s meal time, flies immediately land on the food the moment we put it on the table,” Cuc said. 

The family now takes to eating their meals under the cover a mosquito net.

At an eatery just 50 meter away from Cuc’s house, the abundance in flies has lead to a dearth of customers.

The eatery’s owner told Tuoi Tre that the flies are keeping customers away, and local business owners have no idea where they’ve come from or how to get rid of them.

A mosquito net hangs from the ceiling of an eatery in Kon Plong District, Kon Tum. Photo: Tran Ha / Tuoi Tre

Likewise, the traders at Kon Plong District’s downtown market say the flies have created a serious annoyance at the market.

According to L.T.B, a meat seller at the market, the flies are still rampant despite measures taken by both merchants and the market’s administrators.

Even tourists cannot escape the pests.

“The flies are really bothersome. They’re constantly around us and keep landing on us,” said Pham Thi Hanh, who visited the Pa Sy Waterfall at the Mang Den tourism area in Kon Plong District with her family on the recent Reunification Day and Labor Day holidays.

Goat farm to blame

According to an employee at a community tourism company in Kon Plong District, a nearby goat farm is the root cause of the provinces fly infestation.

“There is a goat farm nearby that operates without proper sanitation infrastructure.  It’s lead to the fly problem,” said the employee, adding that local authorities have taken measures to resolve the situation.

According to Bui Thanh Phong, head of Kon Plong District’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment, his department has received reports from local residents complaining about the odor and flies from from the goat farm.

“This farm belongs to Mang Den Pharmaceutical and Food JSC and is located about five to six kilometers away from the center of Kon Plong District,” Phong said.

Flies stuck to fly paper placed in front of the entrance of the Pa Sy Waterfall tourism area in Kon Plong District, Kon Tum. Photo: Tran Ha / Tuoi Tre

Dang Thanh Nam, chairman of the Kon Plong District People’s Committee, told Tuoi Tre that Mang Den has ignored the government’s environmental impact assessment of its farm.

In addition, the heat wave which blanketed the region at the end of February and in early March played a part in the exacerbating the fly issue, according to Phong.

“The famous Pa Sy Waterfall has suffered the most from these flies because it is so near to the goat farm,” he added.

Chairman Nam said the local authority directed competent agencies to investigate the outbreak and that the district’s health center, in cooperation with Mang Den Pharmaceutical and Food, sprayed insecticides to get rid of the flies.

At the same time, the district People’s Committee is asking the communes to propagate and encourage people to participate in its environmental sanitation measures.

As for Mang Den’s environmental violations, chairman Nam said that “the district People’s Committee has ordered that it be handled by relevant agencies.”

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