Metro

Tuesday July 8, 2008

All-out war against dengue

By DEBBIE CHAN


THE Selangor government has declared an all-out war against the aedes mosquito and is introducing various short-term and long-term measures to eradicate the dengue menace in the state.

The state has launched an Ops Bersih campaign to take immediate action like cleaning up areas identified as breeding grounds.

Posters and banners to alert the public on the dengue menace are also put up in various public places.

According to Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim, in the long-run, the local authorities will increase the allocation for the Vector Control Programme to create support groups to manage chemicals needed to eradicate dengue.

Keen interest: Khalid (second from right) looking at the exhibits at the dengue exhibition with Wong (right)

“The local authorities will also involve local residents and councillors in the efforts,” he said.

Khalid said this when launching the state-level gotong-royong programme jointly organised by the state government, Selangor Health Department and the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) to help promote a clean and healthy living environment.

The Selangor Health Department and local councils have initiated several measures to control the dengue menace, including checks on premises for aedes-breeding grounds and implementing preventive measures like fogging.

“I also urge schools and factories to help eradicate dengue. Alam Flora must also ensure that disposal bins provided to all premises and rubbish collection to be conducted systematically,” Khalid said.

Also present at the launch were state tourism, consumer affairs and environment committee chairman Elizabeth Wong and PJ mayor Datuk Roslan Sakiman.

Volunteers from various organisations, including Alam Flora and the MBPJ, joined local residents to take part in the gotong-royong programme.

The inaugural state-level gotong-royong programme is part of MBPJ’s commitment and concern on the cleanliness of the environment to provide the community a comfortable and healthy surrounding.

“To ensure the areas in the MBPJ is well maintained and clean, we have spent RM35.8mil last year. A sum of RM40mil has been allocated for this year for cleaning and waste management,” Roslan said.

“Selangor is a fast-developing state with an increasing number of dwellers so we are aware that dengue is a problem that we need to deal with effectively,” he said.

“The council has spent RM506,000 on various measures to help fight dengue and in the first six months of this year. The MBPJ has organised 78 gotong-royong events involving residential areas, markets and hawker centres,” Roslan said.

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