Plastic curtains at warehouse doors, wire mesh at windows, and patched floor gaps are not just about neatness. They are all installed for the same purpose: to block pest entry before any spraying is necessary. What often follows is the rarely asked question, and it is this question that matters: after all that is installed, how do you know the pest numbers have truly decreased? Environmental health regulations in Indonesia answer this with numbers, not impressions.
Pest density has a unit, and that unit is not "many"
Minister of Health Regulation Number 2 of 2023 establishes standard quality criteria for vectors and disease-carrying animals based on three factors: type, density, and breeding habitat. Density means a number, and the numbers are standard:
- Fly population index: less than 2
- Roach population index: less than 2
- Rats, measured as success trap: less than 1 percent
These three numbers differentiate the statement "our kitchen is clean" from a statement that can be verified by others.
Flies are measured for 30 seconds, ten times, then the five highest values are taken
The measuring tool is a flygrill, a wooden grid placed at the observation point. The procedure is: observe for 30 seconds, repeat ten times at the same point, take the five highest values, then average them. Low values are intentionally discarded because what is being measured is peak activity, not the average situation throughout the day.
An official example in the regulation itself happens to use a restaurant. The flygrill is placed at one point in the kitchen, and ten observations yield the numbers 2, 2, 4, 3, 2, 0, 1, 1, 2, 1. The five highest are 4, 3, 2, 2, 2, resulting in an index of 2.6. That number is already above the threshold. Note that the kitchen in this example does not sound like a kitchen filled with flies, yet it still does not pass.
Roaches and rats are counted differently
Roaches are counted as the number of captures per trap per night using glue traps. For example, four traps are set overnight, two in the kitchen and one each in two bathrooms, resulting in six roaches. The index is 6 divided by 4, which is 1.5, and that is still below the threshold.
Rats use a percentage. The success trap is the number of rats captured divided by the number of traps, multiplied by one hundred percent. For example, 50 traps are set over ten days and yield 5 rats, resulting in a success trap of 10 percent. Since the threshold is less than 1 percent, that result is ten times the required limit.
This number changes how we assess curtains and mesh
Until now, the installation of physical barriers has usually been assessed based on whether the items are present or not. The curtain is hung, the mesh is installed, the gaps are sealed, and that’s it. With the numbers above, the assessment shifts to results. Measure the fly index at the same point before the curtain is installed and about two weeks afterward. If the index does not change, the issue is not with the installation intent, but rather with the location of the gaps, and the source of odor outside the door has not been addressed.
This monitoring is not a voluntary task. Minister of Health Regulation 2/2023 places the responsibility for internal density monitoring on the facility manager, and the results must be documented in minutes, with recommendations that must be followed up. Monthly records containing dates, points, numbers, and follow-up actions are far more useful when inspectors arrive than a receipt for curtain purchases.
One note before these numbers are used for audits
The formulas and tables are most completely written in the Appendix of Minister of Health Regulation 50/2017. That regulation was revoked by Minister of Health Regulation 2/2023 as of January 12, 2023, and its material has moved to the Appendix of the new regulation, which uses the same three parameters. Most of the body of Minister of Health Regulation 2/2023 was then revoked again by Minister of Health Regulation Number 3 of 2026 on March 11, 2026, but Articles 12, 39, and their Appendices were excluded, so the technical details remain in effect. The Appendix consists of hundreds of pages and could not be fully accessed at the time this was written, so for official audit purposes, first match the numbers to the applicable Appendix.
The method of sealing pest entry points in kitchens and warehouses is also discussed by Mohamad Awaludin in the Hygiene Class: Restaurant & Cafe Sanitation. If you prefer to see the explanation directly, there is a short clip.
Sources
- Minister of Health Regulation No. 2 of 2023 on the Implementation Regulation of Government Regulation No. 66 of 2014 on Environmental Health, detail page JDIH BPK
- Minister of Health Regulation No. 3 of 2026 on Disease Control, JDIH BPK, containing exceptions for Articles 12, 39, and the Appendix
- Text of Minister of Health Regulation No. 50 of 2017, State Gazette of the Republic of Indonesia Year 2017 Number 1592, Appendix Tables 2.1 and 2.2 along with calculation examples
- Text of Minister of Health Regulation No. 2 of 2023, Article 10 on SBMKL vector parameters and Article 34 on density monitoring
- Poltekkes Kemenkes Jambi, study on fly density 2026, citing the fly population index threshold of less than 2 with reference to Minister of Health Regulation 2/2023