Sweden invests millions to take sting out of pests
The Swedish government is set to invest another five million kronor ($604,671) to fight the country's surging mosquito population, it was announced on Wednesday.
Three million kronor in government cash was allocated to battle the insects earlier this year.
However, the wettest May in decades created perfect conditions for their larvae which have grown in numbers, causing the three million to run out even before Midsummer.
Environment Minister Åsa Romson has now fast-tracked Gävleborg county's appeal on behalf of itself, Uppsala, Dalarna and Västmanland for increased funds to fight the tiny beasts.
“There's going to be another five million now,” the minister's press secretary Helena Hellström Gefwert told Swedish news wire TT.
Residents in Sweden's northern-central Dalälven area in particular are known to get into a general angry buzz at this time of year, when about tens of thousands of bloodthirsty pests make their summers intolerable.
“These are not normal mosquitos. It's a very aggressive kind of mosquito that attacks in a very aggressive way,” Barbro Holmberg, political head of the Gävleborg region, told Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet tabloid on Wednesday.
The annual war on the hungry insects has previously included helicopters deploying pesticide bombs across the 9,000-hectare area in attempts to bring down the total mosquito population.
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Three million kronor in government cash was allocated to battle the insects earlier this year.
However, the wettest May in decades created perfect conditions for their larvae which have grown in numbers, causing the three million to run out even before Midsummer.
Environment Minister Åsa Romson has now fast-tracked Gävleborg county's appeal on behalf of itself, Uppsala, Dalarna and Västmanland for increased funds to fight the tiny beasts.
“There's going to be another five million now,” the minister's press secretary Helena Hellström Gefwert told Swedish news wire TT.
Residents in Sweden's northern-central Dalälven area in particular are known to get into a general angry buzz at this time of year, when about tens of thousands of bloodthirsty pests make their summers intolerable.
“These are not normal mosquitos. It's a very aggressive kind of mosquito that attacks in a very aggressive way,” Barbro Holmberg, political head of the Gävleborg region, told Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet tabloid on Wednesday.
The annual war on the hungry insects has previously included helicopters deploying pesticide bombs across the 9,000-hectare area in attempts to bring down the total mosquito population.
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