Medfly Appears on the Placencia Peninsula

Agriculture authorities are fully deployed tonight, in an effort to contain another appearance of the medfly - the second in three weeks. Technicians checking traps in Southern Stann Creek have confirmed the discovery of three fertile flies in the Seine Bight area. The area will be placed under a 90 day quarantine, which should become effective when Agriculture Minister Daniel Silva signs a statutory instrument. BAHA staffers have responded aggressively today stripping ripe fruit from trees and burying them. They've also set up additional traps in the area and should be operating check-points by tomorrow. Authorities could not say if these medflies were transmitted from another quarantined area in Punta Gorda Town. Every time a medfly is found, BAHA activates a 105 thousand dollar quarantine fund. Perched as it is on the Placencia peninsula - just across from Big Creek - this latest discovery should trigger a particularly aggressive response because it hovers dangerously close to clusters of citrus and banana plantations.