Pest control specialists Masa Establishment has enjoyed the confidence of government departments, factories, commercial establishments and domestic homes for nearly three decades.
The company, whose full name is Masa Establishment for Pest Extermination, Maintenance & Contracting, has grown in size and importance over the years and today, operates from 11 branches across Saudi Arabia,
From its Eastern Region branches located in Dammam, Al Ahsa (Hofuf) and Jubail the company has been able to reach out to all manner of companies infested by pests and who have requisitioned its expertise.
Among its clients in the Saudi Eastern Province are Saudi Aramco, Sabic, King Fahad Specialist Hospital, Saudi Archirodon, Hamad Al Gosaibi & Sons and Al Majdouie Group.
The company has also exterminated pests at Arasco, Modern Gulf Company, Al Rashid Trading, TIG Compound and the European accommodations of United Foods.
For other regions of the kingdom, the company operates through Riyadh and Buraidah (Central Region), Jeddah, Makkah and Madinah (Western Region), Abha and Jijan (Southwest Region) and Tabuk (Northern Region). The company is headquartered in Riyadh.
“Masa Establishment has a full backup of scientific and technological support with the presence of a research & development department,” says the company’s owner Mousaied S Al Shieshakly.
“The professional staff includes entomology and pesticide specialists with adequate exposure and experience in the field of public health and agriculture.”
As well as controlling the common creeping, crawling and flying insects found in industrial, public and domestic areas, the company has capabilities to tackle a wider range of pests such as birds, snakes and scorpions.
Masa Establishment has accumulated experience from working in diverse sectors from hospitals to super markets, from zoos to computer rooms and from food processing and packaging industries to poultries, restaurants and houses.
“Professional pest controllers should have knowledge of the distinguishing characteristics of the orders of insects they are often called upon to control. Knowledge of these characteristics will be valuable in beginning the identification process. It is often necessary to know the exact species of insect involved in a problem,” observes Al Shieshakly.
Precisely because his staff has that kind of knowledge, the company has been successful in bagging contracts, he says.
Pest control is a growing sector as the option of not dealing with pests could simply translate into disease, discomfort and losses.
Naimul Hasan, entomologist at Masa’s R&D Department, says keeping an environment safe from the depredations of pests goes beyond the actual process of exterminating them.
Says Hasan, “Fumigation, for instance, should be only a part of a pest management strategy, especially where food products are involved. The goal in the management of pests in stored products should be to improve the methods of handling, storing, processing and packaging so that the need for pesticides will decrease.”
And in termite control, for example, the focus should not involve just chemical application but also mechanical alterations and environmental modifications such as moisture control, he says.
While on the subject of termite control, Hasan explains that it involves two major treatments: pre-construction and post-construction.
Pre-construction treatment refers to the application of termiticide emulsion during the construction stages starting from the foundation footings. This treatment, says Hasan, depends on the type of structure and structural composition. Specific to the Saudi environment, prevention is focused on soil poisoning. 
Post-construction treatment is usually done by drilling and injection plus applications of dust, gel and formulations for the purpose of killing existing termites infesting the structure. A complete chemical barrier is created that will block all possible termite entry points.