WHILE students complain that rats have invaded their dorm rooms at the College of Agriculture, Science and Education (CASE) in Portland, the school’s administrators say they’ve brought it on themselves.

Describing the outcry from students as a “false alarm” since there has been no increase in the rodent population at the tertiary institution, President Derrick Deslandes said students’ failure to comply with the rules that prohibit food within the dorm quarters is a contributing factor.

One student shared that the issue began about two weeks into the new academic year, which started in late August, and the girls’ dormitory is seemingly the main attraction for the rodents. From unpleasant odours in the dormitories to trails of rat faeces left in their wake, the students have seen and experienced it all.

“When we got the [September 3 General Election] break period and came back, a girl said that the rats bite up her slippers, cup soup, and other things, and she had to walk up and down in the bite-up slippers.

“The other night, a rat ran in on a girl in her room. She screamed out, and the rat ran out of her room and went into another girl’s room and up until now, we can’t find the rat that went into the other girl’s room — that was about the second week we got here,” the student, who spoke on condition of anonymity when the
Jamaica Observer visited CASE last Thursday, recounted.

Another student who came face to face with one of the pesky vermin late last month said piercing screams filled her dorm room when the intruder was spotted, and residents have been on guard ever since.

“We were having a conversation and I heard one of my friends scream out, and we saw a black figure. It was a big-sized rat that ran in from the window onto the study table, up the wardrobe and went behind it. We screamed out and ran.

“We were trying to find the rat and some males came to hit up the place and shake up the place until the rat go underneath the wardrobe,” the student, who also requested anonymity, told the Sunday Observer.

However, the students are yet to locate the unwanted guest.

“We understand the fact that we are [located] near woodland, but the service timing is not it, because when we report [the matter], nothing much is being done. The other day, they [representatives] came around giving out rat poison, but it wasn’t every room that got it, just some,” she said, frustrated.

On our visit to the tertiary institution located in Passley Gardens, just outside Port Antonio, last week the
Sunday Observer checked out several sections of the campus and spoke with students who complained about the lacklustre response from the school’s administration to the rodent problem.

One student said the creatures are as “big as mongoose”, and despite several complaints about the issue, little has been done to make students feel at ease. The
Sunday Observer was also shown videos of rats making themselves at home on the campus. One shows a rodent inside a wardrobe while in another a rodent is seen running across a bed. A third video shows a rat outside the dorm room.

“You come from a home where you are not experiencing any rat problems, but you’re supposed to deal with it here, and some of us don’t have the stomach to digest that, like rat faeces and all of that,” another student complained.

The president of the agriculture-focused institution, Deslandes, acknowledged that, as with any facility handling food, there is always a risk of rodent intrusion. He confirmed that the institution has received reports about the issue, but stated that the situation is not as widespread and as serious as students are making it seem.

“We have not seen any significant increase in rat population from our daily activities. Let me just be frank with you, one rat is too much. If it’s a rat, it’s too much, but, to me, it’s a false alarm and it’s also a bit of sensationalism and it’s mischief-making, because anywhere you go, no matter where you are, you know rats are endemic to Jamaica so you’re not going to avoid them, but you have to control the population — which is what we have been doing for the longest while,” the president told the Sunday Observer.

He noted that over the summer break, the school was proactive in setting numerous traps for the rodents, placing them behind all dorms and in bushes. He also said that while they have not seen an increase in the rodent population, students’ disregard for the rules has caused the issue to linger.

“Our students typically throw food through the windows, and that’s a problem because we can’t clean it fast enough to ensure that it’s not attended to by rats, so that is one issue that we have to contend with. The second issue that we have to contend with is that students are cooking in the dorms, which is illegal; it’s not allowed.

“Students sneak in hot plates and stoves, and all manner of ingredients to cook. We provide three meals per day, so the students don’t need to cook in the dorms, but we find that some students prefer to cook for themselves,” said Deslandes.

He stated that the use of hot plates also leads to electrical problems, because the buildings are not designed for high-voltage items.

In a continued effort to tackle the root of the problem, the CASE president said the school is looking to complete repairs to its student centre to make the space available for residents who want to prepare their own meals.

“We cannot police every dorm room, but what will happen going forward is that once we have completed the repairs on the student centre — and we have set up a centralised area so students can cook if they so desire — it means that any student that is now in breach of the policy will be removed from the campus. They will be sent to the disciplinary committee and asked to leave the campus,” said Deslandes.

He shared that the school, which has the capacity to host 650 student boarders, currently has three stoves and two refrigerators that have been procured for the student centre.

But students are remaining on high alert, adamant that the interventions by the administration have not been effective.

“Me nuh think it safe to put any and anything in the dorm, and I up my guard because the rats can come in any time, and we don’t have anything to protect us from the rodents. In the dorm, I normally would have my things out and the windows I would open, because the place is hot, but that can lead to them coming in so I just keep on alert,” one student told the Sunday Observer.

She admitted that while there are some students who do prepare meals in their dormitories or store food in the area, they cannot be blamed as the sole contributors to the issue, because most students store food items in sealed containers. She offered, instead, that the issue can be traced to the wooded area surrounding the school.

“Around here is a lot of bush, and that is where the rats are coming from. They come from in the woods and they come over and climb through our windows. We cannot control that,” said the student.

She stated that other creatures, such as mongoose, roaches, and lizards, also come from the wooded area and infiltrate the dorm rooms.

“The school have big name like this and it nuh supposed to have them type of problems here with rats, mongoose, mosquito, and all type of things,” another student complained.

A damaged rodent trap is seen on the grounds of the College of Agriculture, Science and Education in Portland. (Photo: Karl Mclarty)

The girl’s dormitory, said to be the main site affected by the invading rodents, on the CASE campus in Portland. (Photo: Karl Mclarty)

A sign displayed at the entrance to the dormitories at the College of Agriculture, Science and Education indicates that food is not permitted in the area.

A screen grab from a video shared with the Jamaica Observer shows a rat in a wardrobe in the female living quarters at CASE.

Discarded food is seen on the ground next to a bin on the CASE campus last Thursday.(Photo: Karl Mclarty)