For the past 20 years, Noka Oi Saipan has been helping the community control the presence of termites, rats and rodents, cockroaches and other insects in residential to commercial establishments to an acceptable level.
“We have customers who have been with us for years, left us to try other providers but they always come back to us,” Noka Oi said.
Why do you need them?
When people construct homes or buildings, they pour out a lot of money but their obligation to protect their properties do not end at the minute the last nail is hammered in and the last scoop of cement has been poured out.
Property owners need to provide protection for their properties from damage if they want the buildings to last longer.
If you will not protect your properties and control termites you may end up paying more for renovations than when you seek the assistance of Noka Oi. Termites and other pests will never say no.
Don’t wait until it is too late and the damage is too much. If not controlled, the presence of termites in the house will affect all other parts of the building.
Maintenance services
To control the presence of rats, cockroaches and other rodents in houses and buildings, Noka Oi usually conducts treatment and monitoring for three months. During the first month, Noka Oil will make two visits per week, putting in snap traps and mechanical traps for rodents. For the second month, the company will make weekly visits, and on the third month, only when necessary.
Noka Oi uses different flavors of baits in controlling rats, but they don’t lay out the baits inside the house because when rats eat the bait, they will die inside the house or building.
The CNMI’s most common problem is the presence of roof rats in any building.
Noka Oi does not only provide control services for the problem but they also provide tips and educate the residents why and where the rats come in.
“Prevention is still the best way to solve problems,” Noka Oi believes.
For termites, Noka Oi focuses on Sentricon as the only authorized distributor in the region
The CNMI faces pressing problems against subterranean termites, and house or building owners have to take this problem seriously even if they had the soil treated prior to construction.
Of the five types of subterranean termites, two are active in the CNMI.
For treatment, Noka Oi conducts 30 to 45 days of monitoring if there is activity. Termites can penetrate even the hardest walls and before you know it, the damages are extent and you have to undergo renovation.
An alternative way to control subterranean termites is to inject the chemical to the posts of the house or building where the termites are most likely to pass, or stay around to create damage.
Clients usually take one-year contracts for maintenance and termite control, but six-month plans are also available. Some establishments go for a quarterly, monthly or even weekly monitoring, depending on the need.
If you own commercial buildings such as hotels or restaurants, you need more frequent monitoring as your place is more prone to termites, cockroaches, ticks, ants and other insects.
Pests and termites also tend to move around a lot, so if your neighbors are protected and you are not, the risk that the termites will move to your property is great.
Technicians
At the forefront of Noka Oi’s services and mission to control the presence of pests in homes and properties are its four technicians who find serving the people is a satisfying job.
“It is never a boring job. Every day, we get to meet different people with different cultures and backgrounds, and different locations,” technician Louie Bautista said.
Eight years on the job is one proof that he enjoys what he is doing. Jeffrey Cania, Noka Oi Saipan’s newest technician who joined the company last June, said he finds the job challenging but fulfilling. He said every day is like going to school, learning new things about the pests and how to control them.
For safety, Noka Oi complies with hazmat requirements to ensure safety for its technicians. When they have to apply restricted chemicals, they are also under the supervision of the Division of Environmental Quality.
Looking back
Exactly 20 years ago today, Noka Oi, which means “number one” in Hawaiian, opened its doors to the community to start helping the people control the presence of termites and other insects on island.
Noka Oi opened its first office in Hawaii in 1973. The company branched out to Guam in 1989, and finally opened the Saipan branch on Sept. 17, 1990.
Noka Oi started with a small office as an extension at the house of Lee Delos Santos, its very first manager here, on Capital Hill.
A few months later, they moved to a bigger place at the Flame Tree Terrace in Sadog Tase to accommodate a growing list of clients. Noka Oi is now located in Garapan.
Marketing strategies
Ellen Delos Santos, wife of the late first manager, takes care of the sales and marketing side of the business.
“It is very satisfying to hear that people are happy with our products,” Ellen Delos Santos said. They have encountered several clients who thought there was no end to their problems with termites and rodents for years.
“When they tried our products, they told us that only then were they able to breathe with relief because all their troubles were solved,” she said.
Keeping their customers happy is one company secret that they have been doing for the past 20 years.
“We know that meeting schedules on time and regularly monitoring our customer’s needs and helps us do our job effectively,” she said.
Pre-treating the soil prior to the construction of any building is a requirement in the CNMI, but Ellen Delos Santos said the treatments usually last only for two years, sometimes even less.
“In an island like Saipan, being near the sea washes the soil treatment off faster than two years so building owners should see to it that they resort to additional protection to keep their buildings safe,” she said.
Noka Oi serves the people of Saipan and Tinian but it is planning to extend services to Rota in the future. A technician visits Tinian every month and monitors the needs of the clients there.
Noka Oi is always ready and open to provide improved services to their customers, and they are counting to serve the islands for more years to come
Some facts about Sentricon
AS the only authorized distributor of Sentricon in the region, Noka Oi assures its clients that they are getting the best care in controlling termites in their homes and buildings.
Unlike spraying general pesticides, Sentricon kills the entire colony of termites while spraying hits only the area being sprayed on.
Termites eat 24 hours a day, and if you are not protected, it is like putting your house or building on their menu. Soon, every dollar that you poured into your property will be lost, leaving you with more damage than you can handle.
Subterranean termites cause damage nearly $2 billion each year, and if you don’t take protection, your building may become part of the grim statistics.
Noka Oi said all termite treatments are not created equal because not all buildings require the same level of control. Buildings that are sensitive to chemicals such as nursing homes, child care centers, retirement buildings, hospitals, museums, schools and other sensitive sites require special treatments that would be able to control termites but not harm those who live in them.
Termites are usually not discovered until it is too late. They have caused more damage than storms, fires, and earthquakes and they attack any kind of wood material.
Noka Oi said installing the Sentricon system into your homes and backyards is the best way to combat the presence of termites and prevent them from damaging your property.
Sentricon systems, according to Noka Oi Saipan staffers, are harmless to individuals living in the buildings.
Sentricon systems are state of the art detection equipment used to eliminate the termite colony effectively. The system is placed in the soil around your home or building, a procedure that is less disruptive compared to other procedures. There are no chemical treatments that could prove hazardous to your landscaping.
Sentricon uses only a very small amount of active ingredients when it is necessary, like when active termite activity is detected.
The system has been proven effective as termite control product and termite colony elimination on Guam and Saipan for the past years. It has also received the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award in 2000, one of the federal government’s top environmental honors from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The Sentricon system has protected popular structures across the country including the White House, the Statue of Liberty and the Independence Hall in the U.S..
Noka Oi continues to serve clients not only on Saipan but also on Guam, Taiwan, and the Philippines. Noka Oi Saipan is located at the Ada Apartments on Rosa Street, Garapan. It is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday, and has a 24-hour hotline. For estimates or more information, call Noka Oi at 322-2847 (BUGS) or visit www.sentricon.com.
