Dubai’s most pest infested neighbourhoods revealed

Some areas are grappling with roaches others have the most bed bugs and rats

Deira, Silicon Oasis and Jumeirah Lakes Towers (JLT) are the most cockroach-infested areas in Dubai while Bur Dubai, Dubai Marina and Al Barsha top the list of localities infested by bed bugs, according to the number of pest control calls made in the past 12 months.

ServiceMarket, a UAE-based online marketplace which collated the data, said most of the 1,600 calls made to them over the past year came from residents in JLT, Jumeirah Village and Al Barsha, Gulf News reported.

“Pest infestation is common in Bur Dubai, Barsha, JLT and Deira as they are some of the most densely populated neighbourhoods of Dubai. This explains why the maximum requests for pest control were made from these areas,” said Bana Shomali, co-founder of ServiceMarket.



While bed bugs and roaches remain major concerns, accounting for nearly six out of 10 pest control complaints in Dubai, certain parts of Jumeirah, Mirdiff and Bur Dubai must also contend with rats.

“This is primarily because these places have lots of villas which are more likely to have rats than apartments,” said Shomali.

Longtime Jumeirah 1 resident Indian expat Disha Tourani said she just can’t get rid of the pesky critters. “In the past 20 years, we have called rat exterminators no less than 40 times but the problem remains unresolved,” she said.

According to her, rat infestation has peaked since the closure of the beach around three years ago.