When Marlon Ferreira, Managing Director of the pest-control company Exterminators Ltd steps into his office each morning, he is plagued by calls quite unusual for your average businessman – anxious customers complaining of rats, termites and cockroaches. Not perturbed by this, Mr. Ferreira with equipment and pesticides in hand jumps into his exterminator mini-van and [...]

The Sundaytimes Sri Lanka

Colombo’s key exterminator reaches 15

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When Marlon Ferreira, Managing Director of the pest-control company Exterminators Ltd steps into his office each morning, he is plagued by calls quite unusual for your average businessman – anxious customers complaining of rats, termites and cockroaches.

Not perturbed by this, Mr. Ferreira with equipment and pesticides in hand jumps into his exterminator mini-van and rushes to the scene to combat his mortal enemy-pests of all kind. His battle tactics are so superior that the pests do not stand a chance, leaving customers delighted as he exterminates the premises with a determination and passion. This ‘broad –daylight murder” of pests has become so successful that Exterminators Ltd is celebrating its 15th year in 2013 having received 21 awards for business excellence including the CNCI Achiever of Industrial Excellence in 2012.

Speaking to the Business Times, Mr. Ferreira attributes the success of Exterminators to its search for innovation. “We have always been an organization driven by change and we have always put in the extra effort to provide cutting-edge technology in controlling general pests, termites and fumigation,” he said.

Pic by Indika Handuwala shows Exterminators’ Director Praminda Pelpola using an instrument to detect whether the existence of insects.

He also added “living with the status quo or being satisfied with our accomplishments is not our culture and the concept of continuous improvement drives us forward”. “As exterminators we believe the concept of continuous improvement motivates us to make investments that can benefit our performance in years to come,” he said.

Stressing Exterminator’s commitment to preserving the environment, Mr. Ferreira noted “our mission is to be a green revolutionist in the pest management industry and to protect mankind from pests utilizing cutting edge technology in a socially responsible and environmentally sensitive manner”.

“As a leader in the industry we believe we have an obligation to adopt a business model that could increase accountability and we have a moral duty to ensure that Exterminators uses technology that is environment-friendly,” he noted.

Mr. Ferreira also went on to say “in 2012 we continued our journey by launching several pest control products and services such as mosquito and bird control”. Exterminators also re-invented termite interceptors in 2010 naming it the “smart missile” and this is the only termite interceptor manufactured in South Asia to date, according to Mr. Ferreira

Yet despite Mr. Ferreira’s optimism the pest-management industry does indeed face many obstacles. It is undisputable that the industry caters to an extremely small niche market concentrated within the suburbs of Colombo with only about 31 registered pest control companies in Sri Lanka. Contrastingly smaller countries such as Singapore, which however is more advanced, have in excess of 150 companies. Furthermore the industry also faces a tremendous public relations issue with a general perception that the market is low skilled and low-tech not to mention environmentally unsustainable and it being an unglamorous profession which has hindered the growth prospects of the entire industry.

However despite industry-wide constraints the Exterminators Ltd is truly a market leader being the only company in the service sector of Sri Lanka to be certified under three international standards. It appears Marlon Ferreira’s passion for exterminating and knack for killing bugs has won the hearts of many loyal customers who are astounded by his ability to commit this “pest-genocide” so effectively. Rest assured the success of Exterminators Ltd clearly reveals that as long Marlon Ferreira is out there the bugs of Colombo best beware.




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